JOHN LOUIS SPURLOCK
(MARCH 14, 1909 - OCTOBER 24, 1990)  
WITH WIFE, RUTH ABNEY-SPURLOCK
(Taken in Lindsay, Oklahoma in 1958)

JOHN LOUIS SPURLOCK was born on March 14, 1909.  He married Ruth Abney on January 14, 1932.  John had about an eighth grade education.  He received no encouragement from his parents to pursue any higher education.  He spoke of going to school one winter barefoot, because his parents couldn't afford shoes.  John contracted polio as a child, which left him with a crippled left leg.  Although he had a limp for the rest of his life, he was a farmer and did other manual labor.   In 1947 or 1948, he suffered a fall from a peanut wagon, which resulted in a broken left leg.  He recovered from that, in spite of the expectations of the doctor.  In 1954, he suffered a near fatal fall from a pecan tree, resulting in a broken left leg, arm, pelvis and ribs.  He recovered from this also, but was unable to continue farming.  They sold the farm and began running a small grocery store-service station in Wynnewood, Oklahoma.  In 1958, they purchased a store east of Lindsay, Oklahoma and operated it until 1973.  John died on October 24, 1990 of congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung.  His services were conducted at the Lindsay Missionary Baptist Church in Lindsay, Oklahoma, with Randy Rhea officiating.  During his life,  John served in the church as a Sunday School Superintendent and an Adult Sunday School teacher.