Jack Lynn Stafford

Jack Lynn Stafford, 88, of Beaumont, died Friday, October 9, 2020, at Victory Medical, Beaumont. He was born on October 30, 1931, in Greggton, to Hazel Minnie Cox Stafford and Elmer Anderson Stafford.

Jack was born in a café at a crossroad outside of Longview, Texas called “Punkin Center”. He was born during a winter storm on a cold October night during the depression. He told me his family was traveling to find work. When his mother went into labor they pulled over to the café, and the owners put Hazel in the room above the kitchen because that was the warmest room in the house. He grew up on river-bottom land near Longview and recounts being sent out to hunt with his brother, Bill. They would be given three cartridges for the .22 rifle and told to come back with three somethings. Life was too tenuous for there to be a margin of error. Early in life he caught scarlet fever and because of this, he suffered from an enlarged heart. In his words, he had a case of the “punys”. He was forced to drink goat’s milk because of its rich fat content and removed from all sports at school. He was told he would not live beyond his teens.  

According to God’s grace, Jack did not die young. He met Patsie Ann Fawvor in Nederland, Texas. She followed him to Camp Pendleton in California where they married. During the Korean conflict, he served in the Marine Corps. tank brigade and then became a mess sergeant. Following his years in the military, he worked as a truck driver, welder’s helper, mechanic, and retired as an operator with the Ameripol/Synpol refinery in Port Neches Texas.

Jack was a provider. He saved everything he had to make certain he could support his family and his friends.  Spurred by the knowledge that his time on earth would be short, he saved every penny to be able to leave behind for those he loved. The pages of his old Marine Corps. manual were stuffed with savings bonds he bought weekly so his wife would have something to live on when he died young. For the six years he lived at Calder Woods’s retirement apartments, he would regularly send me home with a “goody bag” of candy, crackers, cereal and anything else he had gathered during the week that he thought we would enjoy having. Even in his eighties, he was still providing for the ones he loved.

If you knew Jack, you probably remember him as the man in the background working so that everything would go smoothly for others. He was the one who came to church early to start the AC before everyone else arrived. He was the man at the family reunion working in the kitchen so that the food would be ready on time. He was the one setting up the trailer at camp so that everyone else could run straight into the creek. The doctors told him that he suffered from an enlarged heart, but the truth was that he was blessed with a big heart. He became father to five, Uncle Jack to many, and PawPaw to even more.   He loved his wife, children, extended family, his church and his neighborhood.  

In spite of the punys, Jack lived until weeks before his 89th birthday, sharing the love of Christ with many in the time he was given.   On a stormy Friday night, 9 Oct 2020, Jack shrugged off the well-used body he had worn for so long. He looked briefly at how small and frail it seemed after all of its years of use. He laughed a bit when he remembered how often he had been told it wouldn’t last for long. Turning and taking the hand of his Father, he walked home.

Survivors include his children, John Stafford and his wife, Connie, of Orange; Ben Stafford and his wife, Laura, of Beaumont; Steven Stafford and his wife, Joni, of Lumberton; and Bill Stafford, of Austin; grandchildren, Julie Youngblood and her husband, Shawn; Jimmy Stafford and his wife, Crystal; Lauren Stafford Richardson and her husband, Alex; Michelle Velez and her husband, Philip; Sean Tuggle and his wife, Abby; Brian Stafford and his wife, Adriane; Chase Stafford; Aaliyah Stafford; and William Stafford; great-grandchildren, Olivia; Catherine; Morgan; Amelia; Evelyn; and Ella Stafford; Addison; Evan; and Ian Youngblood; Jack Waylon Richardson; Aubrey Roberts; Gabriel Velez; and Jack Sterling Stafford; and two former daughters-in-law,

He is preceded in death by his parents; wife, Patsie Ann Fawvor Stafford; son, Scott Stafford; brother, Bill Stafford and his wife, Delores; grandsons, Wilson Fawvor Stafford and Terry Stafford; and great-grandsons, Levi, Judah, and Jordan Stafford.

A gathering of Mr. Stafford’s family and friends will be from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., Thursday, October 15, 2020, at Broussard’s, 505 North 12th Street, Nederland. His funeral service will be 10:00 a.m., Friday, October 16, 2020, at Broussard’s, Nederland, with his interment to follow at Oak Bluff Memorial Park, Port Neches.

The family would like to give a special thanks to Heart to Heart Hospice.

Due to COVD, there will not be an after service reception.

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