Graveside service for SFC (Retired) James William McGavic, Jr., 88, Lawton will be 10:00 a.m. Monday, September 22, 2014, in Fort Sill National Cemetery with Pastor Nick Lovenburg officiating. Sergeant McGavic died Thursday, September 18, 2014, in Lawton. Burial with full military honors will be under the direction of the Becker-Rabon Funeral Home. He was born October 7, 1925, in Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee, to James William McGavic, Sr. and Maude Mae Bird McGavic. His mother died when he was four years old and he was raised by his beloved stepmother, Mary Milam McGavic. J.W., as he was called, was the youngest of ten children and is the last survivor of his immediate family. He spent his childhood in Clarksville, Tennessee, Vincennes, Indiana, and Russellville, Kentucky. As a young man he worked in Elria and Lorain, Ohio, for National Tube, in the steel mills and as a stevedore on Lake Erie. He also worked in Omaha, Nebraska, in a glass pane factory and briefly in Vallejo, California, in railroad construction. He enlisted in the army in January 1949. On leave in 1951, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, he met Emma Jean Pittard and as they say, "the rest was history". They were married November 24, 1951 and were together for 62 years. He served two tours in Korea, 1950 and 1963, and one tour in Vietnam. He also served in Japan and Germany in the field artillery where he was Gun Chief on the historical Atomic Annie 280 mm atomic cannon. His service awards include the Army Commendation and Bronze Star medals. He retired at Fort Sill on August 1, 1969 and was then employed by the City of Lawton from October 1969 to December 1987 where he retired as supervisor, Field Services Division. He enjoyed fishing, hunting and gardening. He enjoyed yard work and was happiest when he was on his John Deere Tractor or planting his vegetable and (especially) his flower gardens. He loved God, his family and his country and will be remembered as outspoken but fair; honest to a fault; loving and loyal to his family. He is survived by his wife, Emma Jean, of the home; a son, James William McGavic, III and wife Pamela, Lawton; a daughter, Connie Lynne Fields, Lawton; daughter in law, Karen McGavic, Elgin; six grandchildren and their spouses, Lorie Ann and Alex Canada, Lawton, Stacey and Jeff Coleman, Sand Springs, John Scott McGavic, Jr. and Jessica, Elgin, Mike and Lindsay McGavic, Dallas, Texas, Dara Lynne and Ryan Sullivan, Lawton, and Dane Warren and Jodi Fields, Lawton ;six great grandchildren, Logan James Canada, Madison and Taylor Coleman, John Scott McGavic, III, Cooper Sullivan and Karsyn Joy Fields; two sisters in law, Dorothy M. Buckner, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Bonnie L. Pittard, of the home; several nieces and nephews in Tennessee and Indiana. He was preceded in death by a son, John Scott McGavic, Sr., his parents and his stepmother, seven brothers, Elmer, Clarence, Elzie, Howard, Douglas, Claude and Loi and two sisters, Louise Reed and Lucille Burnette. Memorial contributions may be made to the Robert E. Greiner School for the Handicapped, Salvation Army or the Lawton Food Bank.