John “Johnny” Walter Hovatter, 89, a resident of Parsons, passed from this life on Thursday, June 30, 2022, at Cortland Acres Nursing Home. He had been in declining health.
Johnny was born Thursday, August 25, 1932, in Philippi, a son of the late Ona Hovatter and Mary Elizabeth Gilmore Hovatter. On March 24, 1956, in Oakland, MD, he married Frances Irene Close Hovatter, who survives.
Left to cherish his memory besides his wife are two children, Ona Jacob Hovatter and wife, Joyce, and Jon Curtis Hovatter and wife, Deborah, all of Parsons, three grandchildren, Sherry Hovatter and fiancé, Carson White, Justin Hovatter and fiancé, Hannah Beckner, and Matraca Gunnoe and husband, Andrew, and several nieces and nephews.
Preceding Johnny in death besides his parents, were two brothers, Carlton Hovatter and Kenneth “Digger” Hovatter, and a special friend to Johnny and Francie, Joan Lipscomb.
Johnny was a graduate of Parsons High School with the class of 1950, and he had served in the United States Army during the Korean War. He had worked for Dorman Mills, Tucker County Board of Education, and the U.S. Postal Service, from which he retired. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, and riding his mountain bike. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Parsons. Anyone who knew Johnny, would know that he would help anyone he could. He loved people and helping them and requested for his family and friends to go about performing acts of kindness in his memory.
Johnny’s request for cremation will be honored. The Hostetler Funeral home has been entrusted with the arrangements for John “Johnny” Walter Hovatter. Send online condolences to the family at www.hostetlerfuneralhome.com.