Jack Farrington Sloan

View Funeral Webcast Jack Farrington Sloan, 88, retired wholesale grocer and former long-time resident of Terrace Drive, died Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at Maury Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be conducted Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at Oakes & Nichols with Lt. Col. Lane Gilchrist, Jack S. Gilchrist, John R. Vaughan, and Wendell Robinson officiating. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery with military honors at graveside provided by Herbert Griffin American Legion Post #19. The family will visit with friends Friday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Columbia Academy, 1101 West 7th Street, Columbia 38401. Notes of sympathy may be sent to www.oakesandnichols.com. Born and reared in Maury County, he was the son of the late Kendrick Gray Sloan and Helen Farrington Sloan. He was a 1940 graduate of Columbia Central High School. He was married June 26, 1941 to the former Virginia Shannon. Their marriage ended with her death April 29, 1990. In October of 1942, he enlisted in the U. S. Army, was trained as a radio operator and attached to the 1st Calvary Division. After further training in Australia, he was shipped to New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands where he was wounded by an enemy sniper on Los Negros Island and awarded the Purple Heart. Later he landed on Luzon and went on to participate in the invasion of the Japanese mainland. His unit was among the first troops that had been in Japan to be shipped home following the surrender. Following his discharge at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas in October, 1945, he returned to Columbia and began work with Charles C. Parks Company. For most of his working career as a wholesale grocer, he worked with Eli Whit Company and later Cohen Brothers, Norton & Steeley, and MGH Company prior to his retirement in 1991.He was a long-time member of Graymere Church of Christ, Graymere Country Club, a life member and Past Commander of Herbert Griffin American Legion Post #19, and the Forty & Eight. He also served as State Commander of the Mississippi Order of the Purple Heart. While making his home in Mississippi for several years, his second wife, Margaret Peavy Sloan, died in 2002.Survivors include his daughter, Shannon Sloan (Michael) Gilchrist of Columbia; grandsons, Lt. Colonel Lane (Wendi) Gilchrist and Jack Sloan (Katie) Gilchrist; great-granddaughters, Sarah Gilchrist and Hannah Gilchrist; great-grandson, Andrew Gilchrist; brother, Ken Sloan of Murfreesboro; and a nephew, Bruce Sloan.Active pallbearers are Bruce Sloan, Robbie Calvo, Chipper Jones, Dr. Cary Pulliam, Dr. Hugh Langley, Rick Combs, Clay Johnson, Ed Self, and Roger Riddle. Honorary pallbearers include member of Herbert Griffin American Legion Post #19, staff of NHC Columbia and Elders and Deacons of Graymere Church of Christ.