John Lee Naugle was born June 4, 1910, in Paragould, Arkansas, a forced stopover on his mother's way from Hornersville, Missouri to Thorndale, Texas. His mother, Texie Lehmann Naugle, had been visiting her sister Malinda Evans in Hornersville and made it only 23 miles before having to stop to allow John Lee to enter the world. At that time, Texie's husband, William Henry Naugle, was traveling Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, and Illinois building bridges. He was leaving Texie much of the time with his family in Illinois or with her sister in Hornersville.
John's early life was a nomadic experience as the family followed his father's work around the country. They spent some time in Thorndale, Texas where his father worked in a garage and John attended school briefly with his cousins. The family spent time in Savannah, Georgia, and eventually migrated into Florida. John and his sister Bettye didn't start school until he was ten years old and the family had settled in Jacksonville, Florida, where he attended Central Grammar. Up until that time, the family had not stayed any place long enough for the children to attend school. At one point, they lived on a houseboat.
For a number of years after coming to Jacksonville, the family rented, even living in a downtown hotel for a while, the Mason Hotel on Forsyth Street. His father's marine construction business started to prosper and John was able to go off to military school with some of his friends. He attended Gordon Military Academy in Barnesville, Georgia, but only finished ninth grade before having to quit to help his father as the Depression was destroying his business.
In 1925, John's father bought their first home, 311 East 6th Street, in the Springfield section of Jacksonville. Two years later, John's half brother John Franklin Naugle came to live with them for a while and worked with his father building Gandy Bridge in Tampa.
In the early 1930's, John and some of his friends formed a social fraternity, Phi Kappa Chi, and built a fraternity house on 3rd Street and 10th Avenue South in Jacksonville Beach. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, the remaining six fraternity members shared use of the house, dividing up the summer time so that each family was allowed two weeks.
In 1938, John married Mary Olivia Boyle, the daughter of Belle Fleming and John Louis Boyle. They lived on Silver Street with her mother until 1940, when they built a garage apartment on the lot behind the home her mother was building on Flagler Avenue in South Jacksonville. John was working for Great Southern Trucking Company and he and Mary had bought a lot in Neptune Beach on Pine Street, but sold it when they decided to build the garage apartment.
John had joined the Naval Reserve in 1932 and just as he and Mary were settling in to their apartment, he was called to active duty. He served on the USS Bailey, the USS Wyoming, and the USS Carnelian PY-19. He performed much of his wartime service stationed in Miami, Florida searching the Florida east coast for mines and enemy intruders. He was away off the coast in December 1941 when his father drowned in Cowpen Lake and later in May 1942 when Mary gave birth to their first child, their daughter Claudia Lee.
Mary and Claudia moved to Miami to be near John, renting an apartment on Douglas Road in Coral Gables. Their second child was born in the Miami Naval Hospital in 1944, their son John Stanley. John separated from active duty in 1945 as a Chief, Boatswain's Mate. He moved his family from Miami back home to Jacksonville. When Mary's grandmother died in 1946, John and Mary and the two children moved into Mary's mother's home. Her mother's sister and her daughter moved into Mary and John's garage apartment. That remained the family living arrangement for the rest of their respective lives.
After leaving the Navy, John got a job with the City of Jacksonville, repairing stoves. Although he worked full time at that until he retired, he also worked on the side to make extra money, doing electrical jobs such as installing air conditioners and wiring houses.
He and his family were active members of the First Christian Church, where John served as building superintendant, deacon, and elder. He was in charge of the Easter morning breakfast for a number of years. He also directed many of the weddings held there during the 1950s and 1960s. The family never missed being in church on Sunday mornings.
John was a 32nd degree Mason and a Shriner. He wore kilts and played a huge drum on wheels in parades with his Shrine group of Saxophone players. He and Mary had an active social life, generally involving their church friends, whom they entertained with bridge parties and fish frys at the beach house. John also had his buddies over for poker nights and had his own poker table and poker chips.
John was involved in his children's activities, setting up the lighting at their grammar school each year for the fall carnival, once chaperoning his son's school band trip to New Orleans, playing Santa Claus at the church Christmas parties, and driving the truck for church hayrides. Mary was involved, actually co-chaired, the PTA, always took a group of children in her car on school field trips, and taught Sunday school for 40 years. John helped his children with their math homework. Every morning, he would have his son climb up on a stool on one side of the kitchen and would pick up the stool and swing it as he walked across the room to the table singing "Oh, he flies through the air with the greatest of ease ..." John was so proud and excited the day he took his son up to enroll at his old military school, Gordon, that he let the car run out of gas. John would take the family on vacation every summer, driving down to Mexico City, up into Canada, out to California and up to Seattle. He took the children to Disneyland the week after it opened.
John had a great sense of humor and loved a good joke, particularly if he was the one pulling it. If someone should fall down, he would have to laugh before he rushed to help them up. His sense of humor notwithstanding, John was a strong disciplinarian and demanded that any yes or no be followed by sir and that any direction be taken and carried out without question. He would stand on the front steps and whistle once for the children to come home for dinner and they had better be on the run before the whistle ended. He was physically strong and would hold up shoulder height one child in each hand. The children prayed to never have a splinter because John removed them with his pocket knife.
John bought a Thunderbird fiberglass outboard motor boat with two motors so he could go quickly. The family would take it down to Oak Hill, Florida where they would camp on an island in the Intracoastal Waterway at Mosquito Lagoon. He would pull the children skiing but his favorite use of the boat was for fishing. Salt water fishing was his passion. He particularly liked and was a master at catching trout. He loved people and was one whom people called upon in times of trouble.
After he retired, he enjoyed traveling with his wife, often her mother and a family friend, Modena Holland from Arkansas. He helped his son build his home in Hilliard, installing the upstairs hardwood floor by himself. He wired his daughter's basement and dock lighting in Virginia. He would cook fried shrimp and French fries and make up his secret sauce, which became a family secret recipe, passed on to his grandsons, but closely guarded. Happy hour was a favorite happening with any alcoholic beverage accompanied by a hearty "Cheers." He was always ready to go on a trip, even toward the end of his life when he was suffering with heart and pulmonary problems. John died at the age of 82 in Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville. ©2010 by Claudia Naugle
John's early life was a nomadic experience as the family followed his father's work around the country. They spent some time in Thorndale, Texas where his father worked in a garage and John attended school briefly with his cousins. The family spent time in Savannah, Georgia, and eventually migrated into Florida. John and his sister Bettye didn't start school until he was ten years old and the family had settled in Jacksonville, Florida, where he attended Central Grammar. Up until that time, the family had not stayed any place long enough for the children to attend school. At one point, they lived on a houseboat.
For a number of years after coming to Jacksonville, the family rented, even living in a downtown hotel for a while, the Mason Hotel on Forsyth Street. His father's marine construction business started to prosper and John was able to go off to military school with some of his friends. He attended Gordon Military Academy in Barnesville, Georgia, but only finished ninth grade before having to quit to help his father as the Depression was destroying his business.
In 1925, John's father bought their first home, 311 East 6th Street, in the Springfield section of Jacksonville. Two years later, John's half brother John Franklin Naugle came to live with them for a while and worked with his father building Gandy Bridge in Tampa.
In the early 1930's, John and some of his friends formed a social fraternity, Phi Kappa Chi, and built a fraternity house on 3rd Street and 10th Avenue South in Jacksonville Beach. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, the remaining six fraternity members shared use of the house, dividing up the summer time so that each family was allowed two weeks.
In 1938, John married Mary Olivia Boyle, the daughter of Belle Fleming and John Louis Boyle. They lived on Silver Street with her mother until 1940, when they built a garage apartment on the lot behind the home her mother was building on Flagler Avenue in South Jacksonville. John was working for Great Southern Trucking Company and he and Mary had bought a lot in Neptune Beach on Pine Street, but sold it when they decided to build the garage apartment.
John had joined the Naval Reserve in 1932 and just as he and Mary were settling in to their apartment, he was called to active duty. He served on the USS Bailey, the USS Wyoming, and the USS Carnelian PY-19. He performed much of his wartime service stationed in Miami, Florida searching the Florida east coast for mines and enemy intruders. He was away off the coast in December 1941 when his father drowned in Cowpen Lake and later in May 1942 when Mary gave birth to their first child, their daughter Claudia Lee.
Mary and Claudia moved to Miami to be near John, renting an apartment on Douglas Road in Coral Gables. Their second child was born in the Miami Naval Hospital in 1944, their son John Stanley. John separated from active duty in 1945 as a Chief, Boatswain's Mate. He moved his family from Miami back home to Jacksonville. When Mary's grandmother died in 1946, John and Mary and the two children moved into Mary's mother's home. Her mother's sister and her daughter moved into Mary and John's garage apartment. That remained the family living arrangement for the rest of their respective lives.
After leaving the Navy, John got a job with the City of Jacksonville, repairing stoves. Although he worked full time at that until he retired, he also worked on the side to make extra money, doing electrical jobs such as installing air conditioners and wiring houses.
He and his family were active members of the First Christian Church, where John served as building superintendant, deacon, and elder. He was in charge of the Easter morning breakfast for a number of years. He also directed many of the weddings held there during the 1950s and 1960s. The family never missed being in church on Sunday mornings.
John was a 32nd degree Mason and a Shriner. He wore kilts and played a huge drum on wheels in parades with his Shrine group of Saxophone players. He and Mary had an active social life, generally involving their church friends, whom they entertained with bridge parties and fish frys at the beach house. John also had his buddies over for poker nights and had his own poker table and poker chips.
John was involved in his children's activities, setting up the lighting at their grammar school each year for the fall carnival, once chaperoning his son's school band trip to New Orleans, playing Santa Claus at the church Christmas parties, and driving the truck for church hayrides. Mary was involved, actually co-chaired, the PTA, always took a group of children in her car on school field trips, and taught Sunday school for 40 years. John helped his children with their math homework. Every morning, he would have his son climb up on a stool on one side of the kitchen and would pick up the stool and swing it as he walked across the room to the table singing "Oh, he flies through the air with the greatest of ease ..." John was so proud and excited the day he took his son up to enroll at his old military school, Gordon, that he let the car run out of gas. John would take the family on vacation every summer, driving down to Mexico City, up into Canada, out to California and up to Seattle. He took the children to Disneyland the week after it opened.
John had a great sense of humor and loved a good joke, particularly if he was the one pulling it. If someone should fall down, he would have to laugh before he rushed to help them up. His sense of humor notwithstanding, John was a strong disciplinarian and demanded that any yes or no be followed by sir and that any direction be taken and carried out without question. He would stand on the front steps and whistle once for the children to come home for dinner and they had better be on the run before the whistle ended. He was physically strong and would hold up shoulder height one child in each hand. The children prayed to never have a splinter because John removed them with his pocket knife.
John bought a Thunderbird fiberglass outboard motor boat with two motors so he could go quickly. The family would take it down to Oak Hill, Florida where they would camp on an island in the Intracoastal Waterway at Mosquito Lagoon. He would pull the children skiing but his favorite use of the boat was for fishing. Salt water fishing was his passion. He particularly liked and was a master at catching trout. He loved people and was one whom people called upon in times of trouble.
After he retired, he enjoyed traveling with his wife, often her mother and a family friend, Modena Holland from Arkansas. He helped his son build his home in Hilliard, installing the upstairs hardwood floor by himself. He wired his daughter's basement and dock lighting in Virginia. He would cook fried shrimp and French fries and make up his secret sauce, which became a family secret recipe, passed on to his grandsons, but closely guarded. Happy hour was a favorite happening with any alcoholic beverage accompanied by a hearty "Cheers." He was always ready to go on a trip, even toward the end of his life when he was suffering with heart and pulmonary problems. John died at the age of 82 in Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville. ©2010 by Claudia Naugle
John Lee Naugle was born June 4, 1910, in Paragould, Arkansas, a forced stopover on his mother's way from Hornersville, Missouri to Thorndale, Texas. His mother, Texie Lehmann Naugle, had been visiting her sister Malinda Evans in Hornersville and made it only 23 miles before having to stop to allow John Lee to enter the world. At that time, Texie's husband, William Henry Naugle, was traveling Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, and Illinois building bridges. He was leaving Texie much of the time with his family in Illinois or with her sister in Hornersville.
John's early life was a nomadic experience as the family followed his father's work around the country. They spent some time in Thorndale, Texas where his father worked in a garage and John attended school briefly with his cousins. The family spent time in Savannah, Georgia, and eventually migrated into Florida. John and his sister Bettye didn't start school until he was ten years old and the family had settled in Jacksonville, Florida, where he attended Central Grammar. Up until that time, the family had not stayed any place long enough for the children to attend school. At one point, they lived on a houseboat.
For a number of years after coming to Jacksonville, the family rented, even living in a downtown hotel for a while, the Mason Hotel on Forsyth Street. His father's marine construction business started to prosper and John was able to go off to military school with some of his friends. He attended Gordon Military Academy in Barnesville, Georgia, but only finished ninth grade before having to quit to help his father as the Depression was destroying his business.
In 1925, John's father bought their first home, 311 East 6th Street, in the Springfield section of Jacksonville. Two years later, John's half brother John Franklin Naugle came to live with them for a while and worked with his father building Gandy Bridge in Tampa.
In the early 1930's, John and some of his friends formed a social fraternity, Phi Kappa Chi, and built a fraternity house on 3rd Street and 10th Avenue South in Jacksonville Beach. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, the remaining six fraternity members shared use of the house, dividing up the summer time so that each family was allowed two weeks.
In 1938, John married Mary Olivia Boyle, the daughter of Belle Fleming and John Louis Boyle. They lived on Silver Street with her mother until 1940, when they built a garage apartment on the lot behind the home her mother was building on Flagler Avenue in South Jacksonville. John was working for Great Southern Trucking Company and he and Mary had bought a lot in Neptune Beach on Pine Street, but sold it when they decided to build the garage apartment.
John had joined the Naval Reserve in 1932 and just as he and Mary were settling in to their apartment, he was called to active duty. He served on the USS Bailey, the USS Wyoming, and the USS Carnelian PY-19. He performed much of his wartime service stationed in Miami, Florida searching the Florida east coast for mines and enemy intruders. He was away off the coast in December 1941 when his father drowned in Cowpen Lake and later in May 1942 when Mary gave birth to their first child, their daughter Claudia Lee.
Mary and Claudia moved to Miami to be near John, renting an apartment on Douglas Road in Coral Gables. Their second child was born in the Miami Naval Hospital in 1944, their son John Stanley. John separated from active duty in 1945 as a Chief, Boatswain's Mate. He moved his family from Miami back home to Jacksonville. When Mary's grandmother died in 1946, John and Mary and the two children moved into Mary's mother's home. Her mother's sister and her daughter moved into Mary and John's garage apartment. That remained the family living arrangement for the rest of their respective lives.
After leaving the Navy, John got a job with the City of Jacksonville, repairing stoves. Although he worked full time at that until he retired, he also worked on the side to make extra money, doing electrical jobs such as installing air conditioners and wiring houses.
He and his family were active members of the First Christian Church, where John served as building superintendant, deacon, and elder. He was in charge of the Easter morning breakfast for a number of years. He also directed many of the weddings held there during the 1950s and 1960s. The family never missed being in church on Sunday mornings.
John was a 32nd degree Mason and a Shriner. He wore kilts and played a huge drum on wheels in parades with his Shrine group of Saxophone players. He and Mary had an active social life, generally involving their church friends, whom they entertained with bridge parties and fish frys at the beach house. John also had his buddies over for poker nights and had his own poker table and poker chips.
John was involved in his children's activities, setting up the lighting at their grammar school each year for the fall carnival, once chaperoning his son's school band trip to New Orleans, playing Santa Claus at the church Christmas parties, and driving the truck for church hayrides. Mary was involved, actually co-chaired, the PTA, always took a group of children in her car on school field trips, and taught Sunday school for 40 years. John helped his children with their math homework. Every morning, he would have his son climb up on a stool on one side of the kitchen and would pick up the stool and swing it as he walked across the room to the table singing "Oh, he flies through the air with the greatest of ease ..." John was so proud and excited the day he took his son up to enroll at his old military school, Gordon, that he let the car run out of gas. John would take the family on vacation every summer, driving down to Mexico City, up into Canada, out to California and up to Seattle. He took the children to Disneyland the week after it opened.
John had a great sense of humor and loved a good joke, particularly if he was the one pulling it. If someone should fall down, he would have to laugh before he rushed to help them up. His sense of humor notwithstanding, John was a strong disciplinarian and demanded that any yes or no be followed by sir and that any direction be taken and carried out without question. He would stand on the front steps and whistle once for the children to come home for dinner and they had better be on the run before the whistle ended. He was physically strong and would hold up shoulder height one child in each hand. The children prayed to never have a splinter because John removed them with his pocket knife.
John bought a Thunderbird fiberglass outboard motor boat with two motors so he could go quickly. The family would take it down to Oak Hill, Florida where they would camp on an island in the Intracoastal Waterway at Mosquito Lagoon. He would pull the children skiing but his favorite use of the boat was for fishing. Salt water fishing was his passion. He particularly liked and was a master at catching trout. He loved people and was one whom people called upon in times of trouble.
After he retired, he enjoyed traveling with his wife, often her mother and a family friend, Modena Holland from Arkansas. He helped his son build his home in Hilliard, installing the upstairs hardwood floor by himself. He wired his daughter's basement and dock lighting in Virginia. He would cook fried shrimp and French fries and make up his secret sauce, which became a family secret recipe, passed on to his grandsons, but closely guarded. Happy hour was a favorite happening with any alcoholic beverage accompanied by a hearty "Cheers." He was always ready to go on a trip, even toward the end of his life when he was suffering with heart and pulmonary problems. John died at the age of 82 in Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville. ©2010 by Claudia Naugle
John's early life was a nomadic experience as the family followed his father's work around the country. They spent some time in Thorndale, Texas where his father worked in a garage and John attended school briefly with his cousins. The family spent time in Savannah, Georgia, and eventually migrated into Florida. John and his sister Bettye didn't start school until he was ten years old and the family had settled in Jacksonville, Florida, where he attended Central Grammar. Up until that time, the family had not stayed any place long enough for the children to attend school. At one point, they lived on a houseboat.
For a number of years after coming to Jacksonville, the family rented, even living in a downtown hotel for a while, the Mason Hotel on Forsyth Street. His father's marine construction business started to prosper and John was able to go off to military school with some of his friends. He attended Gordon Military Academy in Barnesville, Georgia, but only finished ninth grade before having to quit to help his father as the Depression was destroying his business.
In 1925, John's father bought their first home, 311 East 6th Street, in the Springfield section of Jacksonville. Two years later, John's half brother John Franklin Naugle came to live with them for a while and worked with his father building Gandy Bridge in Tampa.
In the early 1930's, John and some of his friends formed a social fraternity, Phi Kappa Chi, and built a fraternity house on 3rd Street and 10th Avenue South in Jacksonville Beach. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, the remaining six fraternity members shared use of the house, dividing up the summer time so that each family was allowed two weeks.
In 1938, John married Mary Olivia Boyle, the daughter of Belle Fleming and John Louis Boyle. They lived on Silver Street with her mother until 1940, when they built a garage apartment on the lot behind the home her mother was building on Flagler Avenue in South Jacksonville. John was working for Great Southern Trucking Company and he and Mary had bought a lot in Neptune Beach on Pine Street, but sold it when they decided to build the garage apartment.
John had joined the Naval Reserve in 1932 and just as he and Mary were settling in to their apartment, he was called to active duty. He served on the USS Bailey, the USS Wyoming, and the USS Carnelian PY-19. He performed much of his wartime service stationed in Miami, Florida searching the Florida east coast for mines and enemy intruders. He was away off the coast in December 1941 when his father drowned in Cowpen Lake and later in May 1942 when Mary gave birth to their first child, their daughter Claudia Lee.
Mary and Claudia moved to Miami to be near John, renting an apartment on Douglas Road in Coral Gables. Their second child was born in the Miami Naval Hospital in 1944, their son John Stanley. John separated from active duty in 1945 as a Chief, Boatswain's Mate. He moved his family from Miami back home to Jacksonville. When Mary's grandmother died in 1946, John and Mary and the two children moved into Mary's mother's home. Her mother's sister and her daughter moved into Mary and John's garage apartment. That remained the family living arrangement for the rest of their respective lives.
After leaving the Navy, John got a job with the City of Jacksonville, repairing stoves. Although he worked full time at that until he retired, he also worked on the side to make extra money, doing electrical jobs such as installing air conditioners and wiring houses.
He and his family were active members of the First Christian Church, where John served as building superintendant, deacon, and elder. He was in charge of the Easter morning breakfast for a number of years. He also directed many of the weddings held there during the 1950s and 1960s. The family never missed being in church on Sunday mornings.
John was a 32nd degree Mason and a Shriner. He wore kilts and played a huge drum on wheels in parades with his Shrine group of Saxophone players. He and Mary had an active social life, generally involving their church friends, whom they entertained with bridge parties and fish frys at the beach house. John also had his buddies over for poker nights and had his own poker table and poker chips.
John was involved in his children's activities, setting up the lighting at their grammar school each year for the fall carnival, once chaperoning his son's school band trip to New Orleans, playing Santa Claus at the church Christmas parties, and driving the truck for church hayrides. Mary was involved, actually co-chaired, the PTA, always took a group of children in her car on school field trips, and taught Sunday school for 40 years. John helped his children with their math homework. Every morning, he would have his son climb up on a stool on one side of the kitchen and would pick up the stool and swing it as he walked across the room to the table singing "Oh, he flies through the air with the greatest of ease ..." John was so proud and excited the day he took his son up to enroll at his old military school, Gordon, that he let the car run out of gas. John would take the family on vacation every summer, driving down to Mexico City, up into Canada, out to California and up to Seattle. He took the children to Disneyland the week after it opened.
John had a great sense of humor and loved a good joke, particularly if he was the one pulling it. If someone should fall down, he would have to laugh before he rushed to help them up. His sense of humor notwithstanding, John was a strong disciplinarian and demanded that any yes or no be followed by sir and that any direction be taken and carried out without question. He would stand on the front steps and whistle once for the children to come home for dinner and they had better be on the run before the whistle ended. He was physically strong and would hold up shoulder height one child in each hand. The children prayed to never have a splinter because John removed them with his pocket knife.
John bought a Thunderbird fiberglass outboard motor boat with two motors so he could go quickly. The family would take it down to Oak Hill, Florida where they would camp on an island in the Intracoastal Waterway at Mosquito Lagoon. He would pull the children skiing but his favorite use of the boat was for fishing. Salt water fishing was his passion. He particularly liked and was a master at catching trout. He loved people and was one whom people called upon in times of trouble.
After he retired, he enjoyed traveling with his wife, often her mother and a family friend, Modena Holland from Arkansas. He helped his son build his home in Hilliard, installing the upstairs hardwood floor by himself. He wired his daughter's basement and dock lighting in Virginia. He would cook fried shrimp and French fries and make up his secret sauce, which became a family secret recipe, passed on to his grandsons, but closely guarded. Happy hour was a favorite happening with any alcoholic beverage accompanied by a hearty "Cheers." He was always ready to go on a trip, even toward the end of his life when he was suffering with heart and pulmonary problems. John died at the age of 82 in Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville. ©2010 by Claudia Naugle
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