John T. Stokes

1954 - 2024

John T. Stokes John Truitt Stokes (1954 - 2024) of Thorndale, TX - John Truitt Stokes passed away from natural causes in Forestdale, Massachusetts on July 27, 2024. John T. was born on February 2, 1954, in Dallas, Texas to John R. and Bettye Stokes. John T. graduated from Highland Park High School in 1971 and went on to proudly attend the University of Texas at Austin, graduating in the first graduating class of Computer Science majors in 1974. John T. married Janet Craig, from Tallahassee, Florida, on January 21, 1981, at his parent's home in Austin after meeting at a computer software conference. In 1985, Janet and John T. moved to Thorndale, Texas and established JJT Farms, their home and where they would raise their family for almost 40 years.

John T. was an eccentric and ambitious man, driven by his love for innovation, entrepreneurship, and carving out a life for himself and his family in small-town Texas. After a decade and a half of working for software companies, he left the corporate sector to work for himself. This afforded him the freedom to live out his dream as a "redneck hippie" and fully engaging in the social life of Thorndale - from being an active member of St. Paul Lutheran Church and Thorndale Volunteer Fire Department, to working the chains at Thorndale Bulldog football games, to becoming one of the most loyal participants of Monday Night Football gatherings at Rieger Park. John T. was a brilliant self-teacher, who by either necessity or curiosity picked up an impressive range of do-it-yourself skills. He always paid these skills forward by happily describing, in impressive detail, instructions over the phone to anyone who asked, as any of his children or children-in-law could attest.

John T. practiced an increasingly rare brand of unconditional openness and acceptance of people - he never met a stranger. As one of the few open and proud long-time democrat voters in Thorndale, John T. enjoyed spirited conversations with his friends and neighbors, but he managed to always find common ground with almost anyone he talked to.

Despite all his professional accomplishments, John T. was most proud of and happiest being a father to his children and Papa to his grandchildren. Even as he moved into retirement, John T. served as the joyful patriarch of his family as it grew, frequently working to bring together members of his immediate and extended families whenever possible.

John T. was blessed with and dearly loved by his large and close-knit family. He was preceded in death by his parents, Johnnie Ray Stokes and Bettye Jo Stokes (Partridge), and his brother, Bill Stokes. John T. is survived by his wife - Janet; as well as their three children: James and his wife, Taylor, and their children Myla, Kinsley and Cohen; Jocelyn Thompson and her husband, David, and their children Kobe and Elise; and Jaynellen Stokes-Walters and her husband, Ron, and their daughter, Monty. John T. is also survived by his brothers Michael (Brenda) and Erich (Susan), and sister-in-law Cookie Stokes; as well as many nieces, nephews, and great nieces and great nephews.

John T.'s optimism, generosity of spirit, and love for his friends and family will be dearly missed by all who knew him.