John Calvin Christmas

It is only fitting that John Calvin Christmas passed away on Veterans Day, November 11, 2021. This proud United States Marine was 76 years old.

Born at Robins Air Force Base on May 21, 1945, John was the son of the late Johnnie William Christmas and Nannie Eudell Harrell Christmas. At his core, John was a hard-working man. Starting at age 10, John had a paper route; he bagged groceries for a local store; and he delivered medicine for a local pharmacy. A 1963 graduate of Warner Robins High School, John joined the Marines soon after graduation. He served for four years and was stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as well as Washington, D.C. He was humbled to be a part of the honor guard for the funerals of fallen presidents John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower. During his tour in D.C., he was also on the personal security team for the former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. After his service to the country he loved, John became a bus driver for Trailway Bus Line. Following that, he worked as a brakeman for Norfolk Southern Railway. In addition, he worked at the railroad as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation counselor for the last 10 years of his career. He retired from Norfolk Southern in 1997. Not one to sit still, John bought a truck and became an owner/operator, contracting with FEMA to deliver travel trailers for the victims of Hurricane Katrina before ultimately retiring for the final time to take care of his ailing mother. In his spare time, John was an avid fisherman and hunter.

Left to treasure the memory of this larger-than-life husband, father, and serviceman are his wife of 39 years, Debra Goggins Christmas; children, John Calvin Christmas., Jr., Kenneth Wayne Christmas (Lesa), and Richard Samuel Christmas (Cathy) all of Warner Robins, Kali Renee’ Christmas Smith (David) of Byron, and Ronald Brent Neal of Centerville; sister Juan Saye Harris of Hoschton, Georgia, brother, Jimmy David Williams of Warner Robins; nine grandchildren and one great grandchild.

The family will receive friends from 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 13, 2021 at The Assembly in Warner Robins. His service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 14, 2021 on the lawn of The Farmhouse at McCullough Funeral Home. He will be laid to rest privately. For friends unable to attend at this time, the service will be streamed live via the McCullough Funeral Home Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mcculloughfuneralhome/live/.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests donations be made in John’s memory to VSA (Volunteers of America), Cabins in the Woods, 977 NW Winborn Way, Lake City, FL 32055 or Semper Fi & America’s Fund, Box 555193, Camp Pendleton, CA 92055.

Learn more about the measures McCullough Funeral Home is taking to ensure the health and safety of our guests at www.mcculloughfh.com. There you can also sign the Online Registry for the family. McCullough Funeral Home and Crematory has the privilege of being entrusted with these arrangements.