John Temples III

1956 - 2015

John Patrick Temples, III

Jackson

John Patrick "Pat" Temples, III, 59, of Jackson and formerly of Tyler, Texas, passed away peacefully December 29th, following a short illness.

He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Cynthia Wheeler Temples; his two daughters, Mary-Baldwin Albriton (John) and Claire Burkes (Andrew), both of Oxford, two truly beloved grandchildren, Jack and Hattie Catherine Albriton; his father, John Pat Temples, Jr., of Mt. Pleasant, TX; mother, Shirley Temples; sister, Luann Temples, both of Cullman, AL; brother, David Temples (Rebecca) of Destin, FL; and his mother-in-law, Genie Wheeler of Jackson.

Pat, born in Texas and always proud to hail from the Lone Star state, he was an outdoor enthusiast and avid sportsman. He enjoyed golfing, sport fishing, running, including the completion of two New York City Marathons and the Boston Marathon. One of his favorite experiences was traveling to Kathmandu, Nepal, on to Pokhara, and trekking in the Himalaya. He loved to hunt and enjoyed many occasion of "male bonding" in Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and eventually on to Africa, a country he fell in love with not just for hunting, but for its beauty and the people.

His professional life was in the oil and gas industry as a landman, beginning his career with Phillips Petroleum in Houston, TX, then transferring him to Jackson, MS. His career then took him to Dallas, where he was a founding member of the Dallas Producers Club. He and his family eventually settled in Tyler, Texas, where he worked with TXO production Co. / Marathon Oil Co. in various areas including business development, acquisitions, and divestitures, and land and natural gas marketing. He attained his CPL designation in 1991 and was a recipient of the Marathon Outstanding achievement award and the Marathon Achievement of Excellence Award. He was co-founder of the Greater East Texas Acquisition, Divestiture and Merger Group and served as President of the Natural Gas Society of East Texas. While he primarily worked in Texas and Louisiana, his work took him all over the country which was one of the reasons he always enjoyed attending the NAPE expo in Houston where he could visit his many friends and colleagues from his years in the energy industry. During his twenty plus years in Tyler, Pat was active in the community in various capacities including serving two terms on the Vestry and Junior Warden at Christ Episcopal Church. He also served as Energy Chair for the United Way and was a member of the Order of the Rose.

He loved his daughters with everything he had, however, as they grew up he especially enjoyed their boy "friends" who frequented their home and who became friends over the years. When both of his girls decided to attend Ole Miss, he was thrilled. While he always had a strong allegiance to the Texas Longhorns, he soon became an Ole Miss fan enjoying many good times in Oxford and certainly in the Grove before and after football games.

Over many years, Pat would reunite with some of his high school buddies for a long weekend usually in the Texas Hill Country town of Wimberley. They were dubbed the Wimberley Weekend Warriors, or WWW's. They spent their time catching up with each other, as their chosen careers were diverse, cooling off from the summer heat in Jacob's Well and concluded their weekend at The Salt Lick eating great Texas barbeque. He will be remembered and missed for his warmth, charm, love of God, family and his friends.

A visitation will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, January 8, 2016 at the Cathedral of St. Andrew, with the service beginning at 11:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Cathedral of St. Andrew or the charity of one's choice.