Johnnie Taylor Vandiver, Jr.

A private family service will be held at a later date for Johnnie Taylor Vandiver, Jr., 79, of Paradise, Texas. Johnnie passed away at home Tuesday, October 27, 2020.

He was born December 15, 1940 in Bakersfield, Missouri to Johnnie Taylor Vandiver and wife Mary Edith (Massengale) Vandiver.

Johnnie has been the owner and operator of Vandiver Trucking in Paradise since the early 1980s. His hobbies and interests revolved around his truck; there was always plenty of maintenance that needed to be done.

Before that he was one of the union carpenters that helped build Texas Stadium (the old Cowboys Stadium) in Irving. During the dedication of the Stadium, Johnnie got to meet longtime evangelist Billy Graham.

Johnnie is survived by wife Diana (Johns) Vandiver of Paradise; children Johnnie Vandiver III and wife Kay of West Point, Mississippi, Dorothy Mitchell and husband Mike of Denton, Texas, Thomas Wilkinson of Boyd, Texas, Charles Wilkinson of Fort Worth, Texas, and Carrol Vandiver of Paradise; sister Mary Lee Geismar of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; grandchildren Jonathan Mitchell, Justin Beck, Crystal Wilkinson, Amber Morris, Taylor Vandiver, and Shelby Mitchell; and great-grandchildren Elizabeth, Nora, Emmery Rose, and Daniel Morris.

He was preceded in death by his parents, son Jimmy Vandiver, sister Marjorie Vandiver, and brother Jim Vandiver.

© (Hudson & Torres Family Funeral Home)

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