James O Strickland

James O. Strickland, age 71, of Covington passed away at 10:08pm on Wednesday, October 14, 2015 at Presence United Samaritans Medical Center in Danville, IL.

James was born in Flora, IL on October 16, 1943 to the late James R and Marion (Miller) Strickland. He graduated from Flora High School in IL in 1961 and married the love of his life, Joy (Haas) Strickland on February 23, 1973.

Throughout the years James worked as a mill wright for Olen's/Flexel for 23 years in Covington, Crawford Industries in Crawfordsville and as a fiber optics borings supervisor for the Hunter Group in Flora IL. He was a gun dealer and hobbyist, animal lover, enjoyed surfing the web, riding motorcycles and dirt bikes and loved spending time with his grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife, Joy Strickland of Covington; four sons, JR (Beth) Strickland of Grays Lake, IL, Kathy Cornwell, mother of JR Strickland; Richard (Rebecca) Blackburn of SC, Jeffery Blackburn of IA, and Bill (Danielle) Blackburn of Kingman; a sister, Saundra (Dale) Castleberry of Flora IL; a brother-in-law, Bill Haas of Key West; 11 grandchildren, 1 great grandchild, and several nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be on Monday, October 19, 2015 from 12-2pm at Sanders Funeral Care, 203 S 1st Street, in Kingman, IN. A graveside service will follow at Coal Creek Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given to the Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka KS 66675. Sanders Funeral Care entrusted with care. Share memories and condolences online at www.sandersfuneralcare.com