John Jeremy Long Iii

John Jeremy Long, III

Shreveport - A Shreveport native, John Jeremy Long, III, passed into the Heavenly realm on Tuesday, February 19th, 2019 after a lengthy illness at the age of 89. Visitation will take place at Osborn Funeral Home at 10:00 AM, Friday, February 22, followed by a chapel service at 12:00 PM. A Graveside service will be held at Forest Park following the service. John Long was a graduate of C.E. Byrd High School. In 2003, he was elected into Byrd's Hall of Fame. John demonstrated his leadership abilities early, serving as Editor of the Byrd yearbook, Student Council and Delegate to Pelican Boys State, Captain in ROTC program, and was named to the National Honor Society.

John's first love was sports. He won six athletic letters in basketball and in baseball. His love for sports continued throughout his life. In 1947, he enrolled in Louisiana Polytechnic Institute continuing his involvement in campus activities. John was president of his senior class, member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity, and 3-year letterman in baseball. He was elected to membership in Omicron Delta Kappa leadership society and to Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. He earned his BA in Accounting.

Later, he joined the Army and served in Korea for two years from 1951-1953 as Army Infantry before returning home to Shreveport. He met his life-long partner Mary Constance Tomlinson on a blind date. They were married for 55 years and had two daughters.

John had a distinguished business career in insurance and investments. He attained a CLU and CHFC designations. He served as President of Shreveport Life Underwriters Association. He is a 30-year Million Dollar Round Table qualifier, and has been recognized as the Man-of-the-Year by the Shreveport Area Life Underwriters.

His civic interests included attainment of a license to operate a barge line on Red River, eventually leading to the opening of the Red River for river traffic and the Port of Shreveport. For 10 years, he served as chairman of the Downtown Shreveport Christmas Lighting Program as part of the regional Trail of Lights initiative. Later in life, he enjoyed helping with We The People of Northwest Louisiana.

As an alumnus of Tech, John remained a staunch supporter of the University, serving three terms as President of Louisiana Tech Alumni Association. In addition, he served as a privileged director of Louisiana Tech University Foundation and member of the advisory board for the College of Business. He was twice honored as Alumnus of the Year. In 1976, he led the Alumni Association initiative to establish the Hall of Distinguished Alumni with its Tower Medallion Award, with which he was awarded in 2016.

John is survived by one daughter, Constance Diane Long and her husband Wayne Crank, Jr, three granddaughters, Colleen Diane Cairns, Sara Lindsey Cairns, and Emma Fargerson, wife of Taylor Fargerson. He is preceded in death by his wife, Mary Constance Tomlinson Long and his daughter, Sara Lane Long Cairns. Also preceding him in death are his brothers, Bobby Long and Benjamin Long, and sister, Jerry Long. He has two great grandchildren, Sage Fargerson and Rohan Anderson.