BUNTING, John F. John passed away Tuesday morning August 7th at the age of 80 after a battle with lung cancer. He was born August the 20th 1930 in Mt Kisco, New York.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years Gladys Bunting, two sons, Dennis Bunting & his wife Kimberly Bunting, John Bunting & his wife Theresa Bunting. He also had four grandchildren, Nicholas Bunting, Kathleen Bunting, Natalie Bunting, & Sean Bunting. He also has two Aunts, Virginia McNulla & Jane McNulla, still living in New York.

John attained the rank of Life Scout while in boy scouts in Mt Kisco. He also earned his Amateur Radio license while he was in high school at the age of 15. He held this license for the next 65 years. He was a member of the Atlanta Radio Club, Southeastern DX club, and the Half Century Wireless Association. He continued to operate his station until just a few months prior to his passing.

John enlisted in the Navy reserves in March of 1949. He was called to active duty in February of 1951. He served his active duty as both a Fireman and Radio announcer for the AFRS station in the Panama Canal Zone during the Korean conflict. He was honorably discharged from the naval reserves in May of 1953.

He then began a career in the telephone industry by working with New York Telephone. He moved south in 1956 where he met his wife Gladys. He and Gladys moved all over the country following work. They lived as far west as Washington State and as far north as Rochester New York before they settled in the southeast.

He was a past president of the Georgia Telephone Pioneers Association and a lifetime member of the Independent Telephone Pioneer Association. He retired from Northern Telecom in 1998 after 47 years in the telephone industry. During this time he kept up with all of the advancements in technology from analog to digital processing and computer development.

After retirement he first volunteered for the AARP Taxaide program and then ran it for several years. He continued with this program through this year for a total of 14 years of service.

John and Gladys became world travelers by cruising over 100 days on cruise ships. They traveled to Alaska, Hawaii and further south to the Antarctic. They passed through the Panama Canal and visited Northern Europe, Iceland and Greenland.

A memorial service will be held at the Lavonia Chapel of Strickland Funeral Home at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday August 11th. In lieu of flowers please donate to your local Boy Scout Troop. Strickland Funeral Home atLavonia Chapel is in charge of the arrangements. On-line condolences may be sent to the family at www.stricklandfh.com.

Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Aug. 8, 2012