Celebration of Life Service For Johnny Northcott

(Open with First Song “Tennessee Whiskey”)

Good Afternoon Friends and Family. Our service today is for Johnny Northcott or J.L. as some of you knew him by. We want to thank you so much for being here with us today, and I know that there are some here that have driven and even flown along way to be here. I know that this family needs you to be here for them in this time of sorrow. Even though our hearts are broken today, we want to take time to celebrate the life of an amazing man. We celebrate today because we know that Johnny when he was a young boy put his faith and trust in the Lord and is with Him today. Scripture tells us today that to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord. What a wonderful promise this is for us today.

Johnny Lee Northcott, age 82, of Odessa, TX passed away on Friday, August 25, 2023, in Odessa. Johnny was born August 12, 1941, in Seminole, OK, to AW “John” Northcott and Theresa Geneva Wilkins.

JL, Dad, Papaw, Pop were some of his many names. He was a welder by trade and traveled all over the United States working on pipelines and compressors stations. JL later switched to inspecting. He met all kinds of friends across the USA. JL loved fishing, dancing and had been to a rodeo or two.  Grandsons will always remember him asking “want a dip of snuff?.” He was a member of 798 Pipe Liners Union for 57 years, also a member of H.A. McFarland Lodge, No. 1338 for more than 40 years.

JL is preceded in death by his parents, A.W. “John” Northcott and Theresa Geneva Wilkins; son, Scotty Blake Northcott; and sister, Teresa Parks.

JL is survived by his; brother, AR Northcott and wife Donna; sister, Rhonda Cupp and husband Bill; daughters, Lori Lee Helton, Jo Ann Lawson and husband Jeff Lawson; grandsons, Cody Helton, Cole Helton and wife Allison, Gage and Colt Lawson; granddaughter, Skyla Helton; great grandchildren, Tristan Bynum, Paxton Helton-Dunn, Georgia “GiGi” Helton, and Knox Helton.

(Would you bow with me today as we go to the Lord in a time of prayer.)

(Song with Slideshow)

Today I want to take some time and reflect on the personal side of Johnny and help us all to remember some great memories.

Cody, Johnny’s Grandson wrote a personal letter and so I want to begin with this today. Cody said when he was a young boy he loved traveling the country with Johnny and he would take him around on his welding jobs. He would take him out to the job sights and Cody would draw pictures for the guys he worked with. Cody and Johnny would always find some time to sneak away and go fishing. The last time that they went fishing together Cody was catching all the fish while Johnny sat back laughing because he didn’t catch a thing. As Cody got older he was always remembering some of the really bad places that they would go and eat at. Once it was time to pay the bill Johnny seemed to always have lost his wallet and would make Jo or him having to pay the bill. Then Johnny would proceed to tell everyone that he always paid for Cody’s meals and that Cody would never pay for his. That was definitely not the case. Cody said I will definitely miss giving him a hard time. We loved to poke fun at each other and call each other names like Toby (his dog) because he could never seem to call Cody or anyone else by their actual name.

I love you Pawpaw.

Growing up years: Johnny was born in 1941 in Seminole Oklahoma which also had a nickname of Bowlegs. There are several theories on why the town was named this, but nonetheless Seminole was known as Bowlegs. From the very beginning Johnny had a rough start. When Johnny’s mother was six months pregnant with him her appendix ruptured and the doctors thought that both mother and child were not going to make it. But they both pulled through. Johnny was the oldest of four children. Growing up Johnny had no A.C. in the house and his father was typically gone because he too was a welder. Eventually the family moved to Eunice, New Mexico. This is where Johnny and his brother began to play baseball and still hold several records there. He also graduated high school for Eunice. After high school Johnny served his country by joining the Air Force. He was not able to serve long because he caught a terrible lung infection where they had to remove one of his lungs and he was honorable discharged.

Family: When Johnny finally recovered he returned to New Mexico and at the age of 21 his first daughter Lori was born to him. Shortly after that he also had a son named Blake who was born and the family lived there in Lovington, New Mexico. In the early 80’s Jo came along and Johnny was there to help raise her.

Work: For those of you who knew Johnny you understood that he loved to weld. He was a pipeline welder and did this all of his life. He was such a good welder that he traveled all over the U.S. Jo was telling me this week that the family lived in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and several other places. As Johnny traveled the country he began to meet new friends and still kept in touch with many of them including a good friend from Alaska named J.C. Reagan. One of Johnny’s favorite places to visit was Pennsylvania. From time to time he would travel back there and work and this is where Johnny met Karren. Over the years Johnny and Karren have developed a long and wonderful friendship that has lasted 11 years. Karren was there for Johnny in his final hours.

Hobbies: Many of the family told me this week that one of Johnny’s favorite hobbies was just tinkering. He would come out to Jeff’s shop and see the scrap metal and want to do something with it or even around his own house. Johnny loved to just tinker with anything and everything he could.

Johnny loved to fish and loved to go fishing down at Lake Amistead in Del Rio. He would always talk about catching a whopper of a fish or even a Baracuda. When the family would go fishing he would make Jo tear the worms and bait the hooks for him so he could catch a lot of fish. Johnny loved to be outdoors and Jo was telling me this week that they had a lot of memories at Lake Spence as well where he would ski especially slolam ski and even tube.

Johnny also loved to go to the rodeos and was so proud of his nephew Steve who was a world champion team roper.

Johnny loved his animals but especially Toby his red healer. Johnny typically had a dog with him at all times. He would often put a bandanna on Toby if it was his birthday. When Johnny would eat breakfast and be eating bacon Toby would growl at Johnny if he didn’t give him some bacon. It was like toby knew and was watching. Toby would also be waiting at the door on Jo and the boys if they were coming by the house. Toby was a great friend to Johnny.

Johnny also loved to go dancing. He would hear a song being played and he would just start dancing in the living room, outside, and especially at the dance halls. When Cole and Allison were married the family said that he tore up the dance floor when dancing with Allison. Earlier we had the video of that playing. It was a really special night. Johnny also loved to sing and was quite good. He had several favorite bands. He of course loved his country music and loved Tennessee Whiskey and Mearl Haggard.

Even though Johnny was a pretty slender guy he truly loved his food. He loved when Jo made him fried potatoes and he loved his pinto beans. He would always say instead of make me some beans, he would say build me some beans or build me a bannana pie.

He loved his family and friends: I know that he was thankful for his brother Arliss and for Jo and Cody being there for him and taking care of him in his final days.

Story about Diego: Diego was a young man who was working at the time for Jeff when Johnny met him. Johnny and Diego developed this great friendship over the years. Johnny would joke around Diego that he was not making a very good hand, and then behind closed doors he would tell everyone how good of hand Diego really was. Diego would call Johnny and cheer him up and encourage him and was even there when Johnny passed. This was a true and loyal friend.

(Song)

(Message Part)

As we journey thru this life there will be all sorts of things that we will experience. I believe with all my heart that Johnny experienced a good life. Yes, he had good days and bad days, ups and downs, but through all of his life he did not worry or get stressed out. The book of James tells us this.

James 1:12 ESV

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Johnny realized that there will come trials and he endured through those trials. When he was a little boy he trusted Christ as his savior and so today he is receiving the crown of life. God knows the number of our days and steers us into the future with his hand and He is in control of all events, even when it seems that things are spinning out of control. Someday we know because God’s Word tells us so, that the Lord Jesus will return, and when He returns, He will settle the injustices of this world, he will take those of us who are believers to a new home, a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no more death or sickness or doctor’s appointments. (Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”)

So, here is the big question that many of us wrestle with after losing someone so close to us and hearing these words from Scripture.

What can we do as we await the Lord’s return and are someday reunited with Johnny or our loved ones?

A few months ago, I was reading about several individuals in the Bible who were coming to the end of their lives. One was Sampson the judge and the other was the thief on the cross next to Jesus.

One story is recorded in the Old Testament while the other story is found in the New Testament. But there is something that is exactly identical about both of these men that caught my attention.

They both asked God to remember them!

-In Judges 16:28 Sampson says, “O God please remember me.”

-In Luke 23:42 the thief says, “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

The reason why I want to point this out today is because most people, not all, but most want to be remembered. Today, we are remembering Johnny’s life. But, think about this with me, the opposite of remembering is to forget. I think we as humans have the tendency too often forget. So, this is why it is so important to remember today that God always remembers us. He is quick to forgive and will not give up on us or leave us. Hebrews 13:5 tells us, “God will never leave us or forsake us.”

It is easy to feel abandoned or even discouraged especially when we come to a crisis, or hit rock bottom, or when we lose someone close to us.

It is generally at this point where we can either run away from God because we are mad or hurt, or we can run toward God because we realize how much we need Him, and we want Him to know us and remember us. Why wait a life time to get to know God? Why wait to know Him when you can follow Him like Johnny did. Today you can know God and know that he hears you and remembers you, and loves you.

-Psalm 69:33 tells us, “God hears the needy.”

-John 10:14 reminds us, “Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and He knows His own.

If you don’t know God today, call out to Him.

-Admit to him that you are a sinner and need his forgiveness.

-Believe that he died and rose again for you so that you can be set free from your sin.

-Confess your sin to him, and ask him to be the ruler of your life.

*And then Know that God will remember you!

As I close today, I want to close with this Benediction from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”

Yes, today we grieve, and we will continue to grieve this is only normal, but we get to grieve as those who have hope. Why??? Because our hope as believers today is anchored in the Solid Rock of Jesus. (Psalm 71:5 the Psalmist tells us, “For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord from my youth.”)

(Close in Prayer)

(Final Song)

(Turn it over to Funeral Home as people walk by to pay their final respects)