John Kenneth Garrison

John Kenneth Garrison, 49, passed away peacefully on 12/1/2008 after a courageous 2 1/2 year battle with Multiple Myeloma. John was born 10/23/59 at Emory Hospital and grew up in the Druid Hills area. He attended Fernbank Elementary School and then Druid Hills High School. While in high school he was a member of the National Honor Society, played varsity soccer and was an All-State musician. His college days started at Florida State University where he was a music major and a member of the Marching Chiefs. He went on to graduate from Emory University with a degree in Psychology and was a member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity. To fulfill his desire for adventure, the day after graduation, John drove to Pensacola to attend Officer Candidate School in the US Navy. He later attended Naval Aviators training and received his wings in the Spring of 1982. He graduated #1 in Advanced Flight Training Class and received the Certificate with Distinction for superior flight and academic performance. While in the Navy he served two deployments in the Mediterranean as an H-46 helicopter pilot. During active duty he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for exemplary performance and the Navy Achievement Medal for outstanding performance. He continued to serve in the US Navy Reserve unit until 1997 when he retired as a Commander. During his time in the reserves, John attended the Georgia Institute of Technology where he received a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering. While attending Georgia Tech, he met his soul mate, Nancy K. Griffin. John proposed to Nancy as they finished their second weeklong Bicycle Ride Across Georgia (BRAG) the summer of 1993 and were married at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church the following November 13. They settled in Decatur and continued as avid cyclists even through John's recent illness. At the time of his death John was working as Chief Operating Officer at RubberNetwork, Inc. in Atlanta. John is survived by two sons, Ian (10) and Michael (7) and his wife Nancy. Other survivors include his parents, Allen and Sharon Garrison, sister Anne Mase and brother David and his wife Martha. Additional survivors include Nancy's family -parents John and Katie Griffin, sister Cheryl Horacek and husband Chris, sister Lori Lee and husband Phil, and many nieces and nephews -Maggie, Kelsey, Kailey, Katherine, Christopher, Alyssa, Heather, Benjamin, Andrew, Joshua and Megan. John's family invites you to celebrate his life at a Memorial Service on Thursday, December 4, 3:30pm at Decatur Presbyterian Church with a reception to follow. Dr. Todd Speed will officiate. In lieu of flowers, contributions in John's memory can be made to the Ian and Michael Garrison Fund at Decatur First Bank ATTN: Ann Berg, 1120 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA 30030. Contributions can also be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foun- dation at www.multiplemyeloma.org. A. S. Turner & Son