John Britton Wells III

John Britton Wells III, the only son of J.B. Wells, Jr. and Martha (Hayman) Wells, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on June 11, 1946. After graduating from Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts in 1964, he received a B.A. in American History from Columbia University in 1968, where he was an officer of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, a member of the Ted Kramer Society, and played football. He also studied French history at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. In 1966, he volunteered as a civilian intelligence operative with the U.S. Navy and accomplished surveillance activities in various locations during the Vietnam War. He completed graduate studies in American History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received an M.B.A. in marketing from Vanderbilt University in 1980. After serving as Historic Sites Survey Director for the State of North Carolina for two years, he returned to Kentucky and entered the family business. At his father's retirement in 1980, he became President and C.E.O. of Big Sandy Hardware Co., Inc., a wholesale distribution facility serving parts of four states. In addition, Wells served as an instructor of American History for Prestonsburg Community College in the University of Kentucky System and for Morehead State University. His community service included one term on the Paintsville City Council and an appointment as the city's mayor pro-tem. He was a member of Paintsville Lodge #381, F. & A.M., and served as President of the Paintsville Kiwanis Club, Chairman and co-founder of the East Kentucky Veterans Referral Center, an officer of the Big Sandy Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and Commander of the Gen. Humphrey Marshall and Captain William Green Wells camps of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He also served as the national genealogist for both the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Military Order of the Stars and Bars. In 1996, he authored his first book dealing with the Civil War in East Kentucky, "The 10th Kentucky Cavalry, C.S.A. - The Yankee Chasers," for which he received the Jefferson Davis literary award from the United Daughters of the Confederacy. He was a high school basketball official for over fifteen years, refereeing several boys & girls high school championship tournaments and the University of Kentucky alumni game. He also served as President and match official for the Kentucky Academic Association and was elected to the K.A.A. "Hall of Fame" in 1992. While living in Paintsville, John and his family were members of Mayo United Methodist Church, where he was a Sunday school teacher and youth leader. He also served as a lay minister in charge of St. James Episcopal Church in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, and a small Episcopal mission in West Liberty, Kentucky. Keenly interested in family history, in 2013, he researched and published "The Wells Family of Kentucky's Big Sandy Valley," a history of the Wells family from 1452 to the present, and led group genealogical tours to Germany, France, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland. On September 4, 2001, the family moved to Newnan, Georgia, where John became a district manager for Colonial Insurance and Assured Benefit Services. From 2002 through 2015, he won Colonial's annual district and region M.V.P. sales awards. He became active in the local Republican Party and represented his district as a delegate to the Georgia Republican Party convention. Initially, the family was members of First Methodist Church in Newnan, where John was an adult Sunday school teacher, member of the church board, usher, secretary for the United Methodist Men, and youth confirmation coordinator. John was also a board member for the Newnan Kiwanis Club, the Brown's Mill Battlefield Association, and the Newnan High School Touchdown Club and was active in the Coweta County Genealogical Society, the Marquis de Lafayette Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and the William Thomas Overby Camp #715, Sons of Confederate Veterans. In 2010, he was selected as a member of the committee that led the multi-million dollar restoration of the historic Coweta County Courthouse. In 2012, the family joined Southcrest Baptist Church in Newnan, where John led an adult life group, served as a youth leader, and was a member of the church greeter team. In 2017, they moved their memberships to SonRise Baptist Church, also in Newnan. In 2019, John volunteered as the genealogy consultant for the African American Alliance and helped develop a network of African American genealogists to assist local African American families in discovering their roots. On June 15, 1968, John married Terrie Ann Barrier of Monticello, Kentucky.

Terrie survives John along with sisters Jane Green (Keith), Mary Hammond (Dean), Martha Heil (David), Jennie Scruggs (Mike), and Susie Colburn (Greg), sons John IV (Angie), Jacob (Andria), and Joshua, along with five grandchildren: Sophie, Phoebe, Gately, Claire, and Lydia.

Two services will be held in John's honor:

A celebration of life on Sunday, March 22, 2026, at 2:00 PM, at SonRise Baptist Church in Newnan, GA, with visitation beginning at 1:00 PM.

A visitation at 1:00 PM and a funeral service at 2:00 PM on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Mayo Memorial Methodist Church in Paintsville, KY, followed by burial in Wells Cemetery.

Condolences may be expressed online at www.mckoon.com.

McKoon Funeral Home & Crematory (770) 253-4580