John Wall

1931 - 2025

John Wall

October 19, 1931 - March 28, 2025

West Columbia, South Carolina - John Furman Wall, Jr. died peacefully at home in Columbia, SC on March 28, 2025, surrounded by his loving family. He was born on his mother's birthday in Boise, ID, but grew up in his beloved hometown of Camden, SC. In his youth, he was active in scouting, becoming an Eagle Scout, and football, becoming a celebrated offensive guard and linebacker for the Camden High School Bulldogs. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1956 and soon after married the love of his life, Suzanne McHenry Jones of Pensacola, FL. They have three sons: John Furman Wall III, Henry Pickett Wall, and Wright Northrop Wall.

John lived a life of service with unswerving devotion to God and country. He served in the Army for 32 years, retiring as a Lt. General. His commands included the 541st Float Bridge Company in Germany, the 20th Engineer Battalion in Vietnam, and the 2nd Engineer Group in Korea. For the US Army Corp of Engineers he served as the Ft. Worth District Engineer, the Division Engineer for the South Atlantic Division, and the Chief of Civil Works. From 1980-1982, he led the construction of two airbases in the Negev Desert as part of the Camp David Peace Accords. His final Army assignment was as the first commander of the Strategic Defense Command, the Army portion of Reagan's "Star Wars" Initiative. He received many awards to include two Distinguished Service Medals (the Army's highest, peace-time award), the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star. A lifelong learner, while in the Army he earned a Master of Engineering and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Princeton and Cornell, respectively, and a JD from George Washington University.

Upon his Army retirement, John and Suzanne settled in the beautiful Northern Neck of Virginia where he served as the director of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association and lived at Stratford Hall Plantation - Lee's childhood home. It was at that time that John answered the call to serve his church. He returned to school at Virginia Theological Seminary and was ordained as an Episcopal priest. For two decades he served as a vicar or priest-in-charge of several parishes in Illinois and Virginia. In his last years he attended Church of the Apostles Anglican in Columbia, SC.

John was a man of deep passions. He fiercely loved God, Suzanne, his wife of 68 years, his three sons, 11 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren. To anchor his family throughout the years he took them on annual, week-long summer pilgrimages to Kanuga in Hendersonville, NC. He could often be seen wearing an infectious smile and his "God's Army" hat on an early morning run with his beloved flat-coated retrievers. He loved handing out "I believe" medallions that he had specially made to share the good news of the gospel. We will all remember many cribbage games on the porch of Cabin 24 at Kanuga.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Col. John Furman and Eulalie Northrop Wall, and his sisters, Bettie Wall Bock and Helen Wall Burns. A memorial service will be held at The Chapel of the Holy Spirit at 1 Still Hopes Drive, West Columbia, SC 29169 at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 5, 2025. He will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery at a date to be determined. Memorials can be sent to the Fisher House Foundation. Notes and remembrances can be sent to Suzanne Wall, 6501 Exum Dr., West Columbia, SC 29169.

Kornegay Funeral Home, Camden Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.

Condolences may be left online for the Wall family at www.kornegayfuneral.com.