John Scriven Brockington

1928 - 2025

John Scriven Brockington

December 27, 1928 - October 24, 2025

Columbia, South Carolina - Lieutenant Colonel John Scriven Brockington, U.S. Army, Retired, a resident of Columbia, SC, passed away peacefully on October 24, 2025. John was a devoted husband and a kind, caring father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He was a World War II Era veteran and a combat veteran of the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He was a patriot and proudly served his country for twenty- seven years, with twenty-four years of active service. John was a man of honor and integrity, a gentleman and a friend to all. He will be deeply missed.

John was born in Sumter, SC, on December 27, 1928, to the late John Scriven Brockington and Mabel Myers. He was raised in the Shandon area of Columbia, attended Dreher High School, and graduated from Davis High School in 1946. John, Scriven to many of his childhood friends, starting working at an early age and was always outside doing something. He shared stories about delivering newspapers on his bike, working at Harry Briggs' gas station, swimming at the Green Hole, and good times with his lifelong best friend, Roland (Huss) Smith.

John enlisted in the Army in July 1946 at the age of seventeen. He served in the Army of Occupation in Germany from March to November 1947, when he transferred to the Enlisted Reserve Corps. In August 1951, after graduating from Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, OK, John was commissioned as a Field Artillery officer. In 1952 and 1953, he served in Japan and Korea as a Field Artillery Communications Officer and Battery Commander.

John met the love of his life, Anne, an Army nurse, at Fort Campbell, KY, on a blind date. They were married on January 15, 1955, in Montgomery County, TN, and enjoyed sixty-nine years of marriage together, until Anne's passing on August 23, 2024. John's military service included tours as an Artillery Advisor to the Spanish Army in Madrid, Spain, from 1961 to 1964, and U.S. Army Attache at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia, from 1967 to 1969. He particularly enjoyed his tour in Bolivia where he worked extensively with the Bolivian Army and traveled to many remote areas of the country. John was a senior parachutist and jumpmaster and deployed to the Dominican Republic in 1965 with the 82nd Airborne Division. He served in Vietnam from February 1970 to February 1971. He retired in May 1973 at Fort Jackson, SC.

John and Anne, along with their four children and five grandchildren, spent many summers at Lake Murray and at their beach cottage in Ocean Isle Beach, NC. John could fix almost anything and was always outside working on his car, boat, house, or yard. He was especially proud of his 1971 sky blue VW Beetle convertible. He maintained his military fitness regimen well into his nineties. He was a Soldier to the end.

In addition to his parents and wife, John was preceded in death by his sister, Rosemary King, and his best friend, Roland Smith. He is survived by his son John (Kibby) and his wife Trena, his daughter Gwendolyn Sawyer and her husband Mark, his daughter Mary Ellen, and his son Gary and his wife Belinda. He is also survived by his grandchildren, John IV (Brock) and his wife Christina, Patrick, Paul, Stephen, and Laura, and his great-grandchildren, Mia and Marley. The family extends a special thanks to John's son-in-law, Mark, who provided much loving care to John during the last year of his life.

A Funeral Mass will he held at Saint Joseph Catholic Church on Friday, November 21, at 12:00 p.m. John will be buried next to his beloved wife Anne in the Fort Jackson National Cemetery at 2 p.m. following the Funeral Mass.

Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family. Memories may be shared at www.dunbarfunerals.com.