John Roquemore was the eldest son of Thomas Allen Roquemore of Houston County, Georgia, and his second wife, Margaret Elizabeth "Maggie" Grooms of Summerville, South Carolina. To his older sisters, Louise and Edna, he was "Johnnie"; to his high school and military buddies, he was "Rocky."
While still attending Andrew Jackson High School, he began working at Continental Can Company in Jacksonville. As he advanced in the company, John decided that he wanted more education. He enrolled with the Class of 1944 at the University of Florida. During the same time period, he met, fell in love and eloped to Palatka with Verne Violet Warren. They were married on 17 October 1940.
On 2 February 1942 after the US Army began accepting married men, John, who was an ROTC cadet, enlisted in the Army Air Corps where he trained to be a navigator and bombardier. This was the beginning of his life-long commitment to the military. The "man with the ramrod for a backbone" was at home in uniform and remained in the Air Force Reserves until he reached mandatory retirement age. He was active on the state and national levels with the Reserve Officers' Association and the Military Order of the World Wars.
His three daughters were immersed in military traditions and learned to sing military anthems almost before they could talk. He was in North Africa when the oldest was born, ferrying a plane to Canada on Christmas Eve during the birth of the second and in Japan when the youngest came into the world. He was blessed with a wife who could manage on her own.
After the war, John returned to the University of Florida with the entire family. He worked as the business manager and a "DJ" for WRUF, the campus radio station, and in an ice cream shop while he finished his business degree and attended law school.
With his law degree, John went back to Jacksonville where he honed his skills by working for a large law firm, Fleming, Jones, Scott and Botts, as legal counsel for the Internal Revenue Service, and as corporate counsel for real estate developer, Pierce-Ubile. He opened his own practice in the Barnett Bank Building in downtown Jacksonville. Even into the 1980's, he took home-grown produce from clients in payment for legal services.
A student of the classics and history, he took his own life on the Ides of March after being told prostate cancer had metastasized to his brain. Being part of clinical trials at Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center which perfected radium seed therapy had prolonged his life five years after his initial diagnosis.
He was laid to rest with full military honors.
Note: The photographs of the grave marker were taken by his niece, Carol Hoover Bierce.
While still attending Andrew Jackson High School, he began working at Continental Can Company in Jacksonville. As he advanced in the company, John decided that he wanted more education. He enrolled with the Class of 1944 at the University of Florida. During the same time period, he met, fell in love and eloped to Palatka with Verne Violet Warren. They were married on 17 October 1940.
On 2 February 1942 after the US Army began accepting married men, John, who was an ROTC cadet, enlisted in the Army Air Corps where he trained to be a navigator and bombardier. This was the beginning of his life-long commitment to the military. The "man with the ramrod for a backbone" was at home in uniform and remained in the Air Force Reserves until he reached mandatory retirement age. He was active on the state and national levels with the Reserve Officers' Association and the Military Order of the World Wars.
His three daughters were immersed in military traditions and learned to sing military anthems almost before they could talk. He was in North Africa when the oldest was born, ferrying a plane to Canada on Christmas Eve during the birth of the second and in Japan when the youngest came into the world. He was blessed with a wife who could manage on her own.
After the war, John returned to the University of Florida with the entire family. He worked as the business manager and a "DJ" for WRUF, the campus radio station, and in an ice cream shop while he finished his business degree and attended law school.
With his law degree, John went back to Jacksonville where he honed his skills by working for a large law firm, Fleming, Jones, Scott and Botts, as legal counsel for the Internal Revenue Service, and as corporate counsel for real estate developer, Pierce-Ubile. He opened his own practice in the Barnett Bank Building in downtown Jacksonville. Even into the 1980's, he took home-grown produce from clients in payment for legal services.
A student of the classics and history, he took his own life on the Ides of March after being told prostate cancer had metastasized to his brain. Being part of clinical trials at Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center which perfected radium seed therapy had prolonged his life five years after his initial diagnosis.
He was laid to rest with full military honors.
Note: The photographs of the grave marker were taken by his niece, Carol Hoover Bierce.
John Roquemore was the eldest son of Thomas Allen Roquemore of Houston County, Georgia, and his second wife, Margaret Elizabeth "Maggie" Grooms of Summerville, South Carolina. To his older sisters, Louise and Edna, he was "Johnnie"; to his high school and military buddies, he was "Rocky."
While still attending Andrew Jackson High School, he began working at Continental Can Company in Jacksonville. As he advanced in the company, John decided that he wanted more education. He enrolled with the Class of 1944 at the University of Florida. During the same time period, he met, fell in love and eloped to Palatka with Verne Violet Warren. They were married on 17 October 1940.
On 2 February 1942 after the US Army began accepting married men, John, who was an ROTC cadet, enlisted in the Army Air Corps where he trained to be a navigator and bombardier. This was the beginning of his life-long commitment to the military. The "man with the ramrod for a backbone" was at home in uniform and remained in the Air Force Reserves until he reached mandatory retirement age. He was active on the state and national levels with the Reserve Officers' Association and the Military Order of the World Wars.
His three daughters were immersed in military traditions and learned to sing military anthems almost before they could talk. He was in North Africa when the oldest was born, ferrying a plane to Canada on Christmas Eve during the birth of the second and in Japan when the youngest came into the world. He was blessed with a wife who could manage on her own.
After the war, John returned to the University of Florida with the entire family. He worked as the business manager and a "DJ" for WRUF, the campus radio station, and in an ice cream shop while he finished his business degree and attended law school.
With his law degree, John went back to Jacksonville where he honed his skills by working for a large law firm, Fleming, Jones, Scott and Botts, as legal counsel for the Internal Revenue Service, and as corporate counsel for real estate developer, Pierce-Ubile. He opened his own practice in the Barnett Bank Building in downtown Jacksonville. Even into the 1980's, he took home-grown produce from clients in payment for legal services.
A student of the classics and history, he took his own life on the Ides of March after being told prostate cancer had metastasized to his brain. Being part of clinical trials at Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center which perfected radium seed therapy had prolonged his life five years after his initial diagnosis.
He was laid to rest with full military honors.
Note: The photographs of the grave marker were taken by his niece, Carol Hoover Bierce.
While still attending Andrew Jackson High School, he began working at Continental Can Company in Jacksonville. As he advanced in the company, John decided that he wanted more education. He enrolled with the Class of 1944 at the University of Florida. During the same time period, he met, fell in love and eloped to Palatka with Verne Violet Warren. They were married on 17 October 1940.
On 2 February 1942 after the US Army began accepting married men, John, who was an ROTC cadet, enlisted in the Army Air Corps where he trained to be a navigator and bombardier. This was the beginning of his life-long commitment to the military. The "man with the ramrod for a backbone" was at home in uniform and remained in the Air Force Reserves until he reached mandatory retirement age. He was active on the state and national levels with the Reserve Officers' Association and the Military Order of the World Wars.
His three daughters were immersed in military traditions and learned to sing military anthems almost before they could talk. He was in North Africa when the oldest was born, ferrying a plane to Canada on Christmas Eve during the birth of the second and in Japan when the youngest came into the world. He was blessed with a wife who could manage on her own.
After the war, John returned to the University of Florida with the entire family. He worked as the business manager and a "DJ" for WRUF, the campus radio station, and in an ice cream shop while he finished his business degree and attended law school.
With his law degree, John went back to Jacksonville where he honed his skills by working for a large law firm, Fleming, Jones, Scott and Botts, as legal counsel for the Internal Revenue Service, and as corporate counsel for real estate developer, Pierce-Ubile. He opened his own practice in the Barnett Bank Building in downtown Jacksonville. Even into the 1980's, he took home-grown produce from clients in payment for legal services.
A student of the classics and history, he took his own life on the Ides of March after being told prostate cancer had metastasized to his brain. Being part of clinical trials at Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center which perfected radium seed therapy had prolonged his life five years after his initial diagnosis.
He was laid to rest with full military honors.
Note: The photographs of the grave marker were taken by his niece, Carol Hoover Bierce.
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