John Lee Wamble []
John Lee Wamble died peacefully Thursday, March 25, 2010, at Ollie Steele Burden Manor, having lived a long and full life. At 98 years of age, he was simply amazed that he lived longer than any male in his family. Born on Aug. 12, 1911, in the community of Coon Tail in Monroe County, Miss., he was reared in Greenwood, Miss. An active Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America, he was known for his resourcefulness and ability to make a fire without matches. He was mentored by his father, Albert French Wamble, superintendent of the Greenwood Cotton Seed Oil Mill, and following his formal education in mechanical engineering at Mississippi State University and North Carolina State University, he was superintendent of Cotton Seed Oil Mills in Magnolia, Kosciusko and Greenwood, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn. He worked in the industry designing equipment and developed and manufactured tools for the forestry industry. After retiring from Mississippi State University, he made his home for 25 years at Wakefield in West Feliciana Parish, where he was called "Pappy" by one and all. For the last eight years, he had resided in Baton Rouge. The family gratefully thanks Dr. Pat Gahan, nurse practitioner Lynn Pennington and the staff of Ollie Steele Burden Manor for their devotion and care of Pappy and many saints of Broadmoor and First Presbyterian Churches for their prayerful support. He was preceded in death by his wife, Helen McInnis Wamble; parents, Kathryn Morgan Wamble and Albert French Wamble; siblings, Gilbert French Wamble, Albert Cecil Wamble and wife Hallie McElroy Wamble, Mary Emma Wamble French and husband Claude Edwin French, Kathryn Wamble Scroggins [38509] and husband
George Clayton Scroggins III [35379], Douthit E. Wamble and Hubert Henry Wamble; and great-grandchild, Hailey Angelle Berry. He is survived by his children, Dr. John Lee Wamble Jr. and wife Cynthia Powers Wamble, of Baytown, Texas, and Johanna "Jolie" Wamble Berry and husband Dr. B. Eugene Berry, of Baton Rouge; grandchildren, J. Lee Wamble III and Stephanie Stoffer Wamble and Molly Wamble Chinn and Wes Chinn, of Seattle, Ira Wamble, of Costa Rica, David McInnis Berry, of Jackson, Miss., and Katherine Berry, of Baton Rouge; three great-grandchildren, John "Jack" Lee Wamble IV, Mollie McKenzie Wamble and Annison Locke Chinn, of Seattle. He will buried in a private ceremony in the Wamble family plot at Coon Tail Cemetery in Monroe County, Miss. The family will welcome friends at Wakefield Plantation on Saturday, April 3, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Memorial gifts may be made to the West Feliciana Historical Society, P.O. Box 338, St. Francisville, LA 70775.
Published in The Advocate [Baton Rouge, LA] on March 27, 2010
