Habitat Volunteer John Prince: 80-Year-Old Displays True Dedication

By Joe Hall

Volunteers begin to gather at a Habitat for Humanity work site in Shawnee at about 8:30 a.m. every other Saturday. This is a pleasant time, with most workers greeted by name as they arrive, conversation starting and everyone anticipating several hours of good work on the house.

One volunteer who has joined this group almost every workday since 2003 stands straighter than the rest, talks with authority in his voice, always finds a way to accomplish jobs that need doing and will stay for clean-up, sometimes after everyone else is gone. His name is John Prince, and he’s the oldest volunteer on the job at 80 years.

Every worker who comes to help a low-income family build a house brings a story with him, but John Prince’s story covers more time and geography than most. Col. Prince is a military man who was discharged with 24 years of service in 1972, a veteran of a 53-year marriage and a dedicated volunteer in several organizations.

He was born in Shuqualak (pronounced “sugar lock”), Miss., in 1929, and grew up among 1,300 citizens of this cotton and saw milling town. His military orientation began when he became a student at Columbia Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1947. 

He stayed in his home state by enrolling at Mississippi State College (now University). He joined the Army Reserve to help pay for college and enrolled in ROTC all four years he was at Mississippi State, becoming a Second Lieutenant in Artillery.

By the time he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, he had developed his leadership qualities by serving as president of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity for two years, becoming company commander of Scabbard and Blade, and president of the Fraternity Council, all while working with the Soil Conservation Office to help pay tuition.

A telegram from President Truman in 1951 ordered him to report to Fort Bliss, Texas, for artillery school, preparing him for a distinguished year in Korea with the Seventh Infantry Division. He made First Lieutenant, receiving the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Legion of Merit.

After the war, he was assigned to Fort Sill, Okla., where he first met Patricia Adams in an office where he had gone looking for some files. He was immediately impressed, though when he asked her to go with him to a dance, she turned him down. He persisted, thinking he had best marry this wonderful woman, and the result has been 53 years of marriage and three successful sons. The first son is a lawyer, the second is a petroleum engineer and the third works with Goldman-Sachs.

After tours of service in the Army in Washington, D.C., Italy, Korea and Alabama, John was discharged. Pat had relatives in Oklahoma, so they drove here to find work, stopping first at Oklahoma Baptist University where he talked with President Bill Tanner and was hired as budget coordinator, working with Tom Terry and later with John Parrish. He worked 13 years at OBU, the last five as assistant professor of business.

All of his life, John has volunteered his time, discipline and leadership skills to worthwhile organizations. He held offices in the Kiwanis, ran the Backpacking Club at OBU with Dick Canham, and served on the Red Cross board with three years as president. Over the years, he has donated 184 units of blood. He has been involved with the Boy Scouts since he was a Cub Scout and has held leadership positions from 1972 through 1990, including district chairman.

He has always been a churchman, serving as a deacon in Baptist churches in Alexandria, Va.; Meterie, La.; Cyril, Okla.; and Shawnee.

He and Pat moved to Chickasha in 1988 and later to Cyril to take care of her parents in their last years. 

When they returned to Shawnee in 1990, John worked with Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief in the feeding unit, but switched to the chainsaw unit because of continued hearing loss. As he says, “You don’t have to hear real well to be a puller to clear the way for the cutter.”

But John doesn’t rest. He bought an Indian drum in Colorado one year and decided years later that he could make such a drum. He’s now made more than 30 drums, the last being 16 inches in diameter. He gave this one to the Salvation Army Boy Scout Order of the Arrow unit.

When John Prince arrives at a Habitat work site with his purposeful walk and alert vision, looking for the first task of the day to tackle, those of us greeting him cannot fully conceive of the experiences and wisdom that he brings along with his hammer and strong, 80-year-old arm.  But we can see how his laboring hard on a Saturday to help a working family build a house to buy is typical of John’s disciplined, wide-ranging, generous life.

Habitat for Humanity volunteers Dirk McElfresh (left) and John Prince put siding on a new home in Shawnee for a Partner Family.

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