Johnnie Carroll Shappley died on Saturday January 22, 2022 at 1:22pm in Columbus,

MS. He was a man of many talents. He could design buildings and rebuild anything

mechanical including engines and complete automobiles. In a word he was a Polymath and the modern version of a Renaissance Man. He was a great father and loyal friend to his own sons and many, many other people. He was an even better Grandfather. He had a P.H.D. in "Grandfatherism" gained from 82 years of practical life experience.

Johnnie (he went by Carroll as a kid) was born in rural Tippah County Mississippi on a

cold January 17th, 1940 to his parents Herman and Ruby Shappley. He is survived by this four sons and their families. Michael and Sabrina Shappley of Las Vegas, NV. Stephen Shappley of Jacksonville, FL. John and T.J. Shappley of Hattiesburg, MS. Thomas and Jennifer Shappley of Tuscaloosa, AL. He has one sister and her family. Nancy and Benny Thornton of Walnut, MS and their son David Thornton. There are six grand children and one great grand daughter. In order of age, Kori, Kyle, Will, Caroline,

Mathew, Luke, and Charlie.

I would be amiss if I did not mention one of my Golden Retrievers that was a fan

favorite of my father. I would talk to him several times per week and he was always

asking about the latest Snoopy Dogg story and what he had been up to. I sent him tons of pictures of Snoopy and we even did a live video conference this past week. He got the biggest kick out that dog and his antics. If I have one regret it would be that I did not get Pop to Las Vegas so Snoopy Dogg could give him the grand tour. I can see it now. He would walk outside, show Pop where to bark at the people walking by on the hiking

trails and then take him back inside and show him where the nice lady will give him food and snacks. Then they would both go in the media room and watch car racing on

television.

Last week I was sitting with him talking about how we were going to leave black marks

in the hallway of the hospital with the wheel chair because we were going to leave so

fast. There is always the question when somebody dies as if it was a big secret. It is not. Pop caught this plague that has been over the planet the last two years. He had

successfully avoided it until this point with his own set of rules. The standard protocol

was to wear a paper mask and stay six feet away from everybody. His were a little

different. Imagine if you can, a man in overalls, bandanna, cowboy hat and a tape

measure reminding everybody he needs 20ft clear. He even learned how to use the robot checkout stand vs real people at the store. Yes he was a character. A large number of people followed my story's that I wrote about him on Facebook. He was genuinely surprised when I told him how many people were asking about him and wishing him well. He did not think anybody knew who he was. That is an understatement. There are so many story's that I can not list them all here. They will have to be in the forthcoming book I am writing about his life and growing up in the rural south. The title of the book will be "Memories of a 41 Ford".

If you would like to send an email to the family you can send it to johnnie@shappley.net. We also have a scholarship fund set up at The Pinebelt Foundation in honor of our father. It will be geared toward students with financial needs in the Golden Triangle area at Junior Colleges who are focused on the study of Architecture and Design. Updated contact information, the full unedited version of this story, and scholarship donation information will be on the website. www.shappley.net.

There will be a memorial and celebration of life on Saturday January 29th at 1:22pm. The event will be held at Lowndes Funeral Home on Lehmberg Lane in Columbus, MS. My father was not a suit and tie guy so if you want to, wear your best pair of overalls and hat and come tell stories with us.