John Harold Hembree, Sr.'s Obituary
John Harold Hembree, Sr., age 93, passed away on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, at Brandon Nursing Home. Mr. Hembree was born May 28, 1916 in Stockton, Missouri, a son of the late John Able Hembree and Ethyl Cheek Hembree. After graduating high school in Stockton, Mr. Hembree attended and graduated from Southwest Missouri State College in Springfield, Missouri. He worked his way through high school and college by teaching at a rural school, Sand Hill #54. In 1937 John Hembree began his career in agricultural finance as manager of the Ozark and West Plains Production Credit Association. He went on to serve as state supervisor of the PCA’s lending activities in Arkansas and Missouri. In 1954 Mr. Hembree moved to Memphis, Tennessee to work with Union Planters Bank (now Regions Bank) in their agricultural lending division. John Hembree served as Senior Vice President of the agricultural lending division for 28 years and was known as the “Dean of Agribusiness” in the southeast. He was a regular instructor at the School of Banking of the South, was heavily involved in civic and agriculture related activities in the Mid-South and received many honors. In the late fifties the United States government called upon his banking expertise and asked for his help in setting up the banking system in Honduras, Central America. Union Planters bank loaned Mr. Hembree to the government of Honduras and he spent two years in that country helping establish it’s financial and banking systems. John Hembree loved the outdoors and was an avid dove, duck and deer hunter. He was a crack shot, a true sportsman and a conservationist before it was fashionable. He spent many hours passing along his “values of the outdoors” to his family and others. John Hembree was predeceased by his wife of 61years, Mary Catherine Hembree. He and his wife were members of Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Also predeceasing him were one brother, Marvin Hembree of Stockton, Missouri, and one son, John H. Hembree, Jr., of Jackson Mississippi. Surviving are his three grandchildren, John Gregory Hembree and his wife Renee Hembree of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; De De Guest and her husband Bill Guest of Charlotte, North Carolina; and Cindy Price and her husband Chris Price of Jefferson, Georgia. John Hembree is survived by seven great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m., at Memorial Park Funeral Home, 5668 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee on Saturday, April 24, 2010. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Ducks Unlimited, One Waterfowl Way, Memphis, Tennessee 38120. Memorial Park Funeral Home (901)767-8930
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