GRENVILLE, Mississippi - Funeral Services for John Carroll Sandefur Sr., 94, of Greenville will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, February 20, 2026, at First Presbyterian Church. There will be a visitation from 10 a.m. until the service time. Burial will be in the Odd Fellows Cemetery, Greenwood, MS. He passed away on Thursday, February 13, 2026. Arrangements are under the direction of Boone Funeral Home, Greenville.
John C. Sandefur was born in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, on July 18, 1931. He was the son of Guy Carroll Sandefur and Agnes McAlpine Stofer and spent his childhood in Kentucky and Tennessee, where his father worked for the Army Corps of Engineers. After living in the Panama Canal Zone for a year, his family returned to the US to live in Vicksburg where he graduated high school in 1949.
John attended Millsaps College, where he was active in scholastic and leadership fraternities, Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, served as the business manager for the school newspaper and was a member of the Millsaps Band and Millsaps Players. His greatest achievement at Millsaps was meeting the love of his life, Mary Louise Flowers of Greenwood. He attended one year of medical school at the Medical College of Virginia, then transferred to the University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis, where Mary Lou joined him and taught school.
After completion of his internship, John entered the Army and served at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, and then transferred to Friedberg, Germany where he served with a tank unit of the 3rd Armored (Spearhead) Division. After 18 months, he transferred to Fort Lewis, Washington, where he completed a 4 year general surgery residency. The family then moved to Okinawa, Japan for three years. They spent one year in Fort Lewis, Kentucky, where he served as Chief of Surgery at Ireland Army Hospital.
John resigned his commission as a Lt. Colonel, and moved to Greenville where he practiced general surgery until he retired at age 68. During his practice, he served as chief of surgery at both King’s Daughters Hospital and Delta Regional Medical Center. He also served as the team physician for Washington School for 13 years.
While in the Army, he and Mary Lou traveled and visited Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and many destinations in Western Europe. They were happily married for 68 years.
John was a life-long Presbyterian and a long-standing member of the First Presbyterian Church of Greenville, where he served as a deacon, an elder, and head of the Session. After retiring from his practice, he gave his time as a surgeon at the Good Samaritan free clinic. He was a polling officer in Greenville, and was a founding member and officer of Refuge Land Company. John was crowned King of the Junior Auxiliary Ball in 2013 in honor of his service to Greenville and Washington County.
He is survived by his sister Agnes Levin, children John Sandefur (Caron), Mark Sandefur (Lisa) and Missie Sandefur Hendry (Scott) along with 7 grandchildren: Mark Sandefur, Rick Sandefur, Chris Sandefur, John Allen Sandefur, Allie Hendry, Mollie Hendry, and Cara Sandefur.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Greenville or the charity of your choice.
