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June Carroll (J. C.) Lankford was born June 19, 1916 on the Lankford family farm 8 miles Southwest of Adrian, Bates County, Missouri. He was the third son of David Lyon (Budge) and Leah Hudelson Lankford.
J.C. worked on the family farm after school and summers through elementary and high school, graduating from Adrian High School in May 1933 in a class of twenty-eight (No. 1 academically) and gave the valedictory address at graduation. He represented his school on the debate team for two years and won second place in State for original oratory. To begin his working career, he taught two years in rural Bates County Missouri elementary schools (Altona and Mingo 1935-36). After two years as a postal clerk, on August 3, 1939 he was nominated by U.S. Senator Harry S. Truman, commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as postmaster of his Home town Adrian, Missouri.
Early on in WWII, J.C. volunteered and was inducted into the U.S. Army on February 3, 1943. He served with the Fifth Army Base Post Office in North Africa and Italy for two years. After returning to the USA in 1945, he was stationed at Fort Jefferson Barracks (St. Louis, MO) and enrolled in night Classes at St. Louis University. In 1948, he took the examination for Postal Inspector and was appointed August 15, 1949.
J.C. had an exciting and challenging career in investigating and assisting in the prosecution of Postal Law violators and in protecting the sanctity of privacy in the handling of the US Mails. Whether it was the burglary of a one-room mountain post office in Eastern Kentucky or the shoot-out with an armed robber at Stapleton airport in Denver, he never gave up his pursuit of the offenders.
During J.C.'s 35 year career as a postal inspector he held assignments
as:
• Field Inspector, 5 counties in Eastern Kentucky with domicile at
Pikeville.
• Field Inspector, 15 counties in Northwest Oklahoma, domicile
at
Enid, OK.
• All postal crimes in Oklahoma City.
• Major mail
fraud cases in entire state of Oklahoma( three judicial
Districts.
•
Develop and teach a course in Investigation of Mail Frauds at
Career
Development Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
• Assistant Inspector in
Charge, and Training Councilor, Kansas City.
• Inspector in Charge Kansas
City Division (consisting of states of
Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa
and Oklahoma).
After 35 years of Federal Service, J.C. retired to enjoy many years of worldwide travel and golf with the love of his life of 75 years, Leeta Fern.
J.C. is survived by his wife, Leeta; son, E. Joe Lankford of Norman; daughter, Rebecca Ann Lankford of Tulsa; four grandchildren, Robert B. Stegge of Austin, Texas, Stephanie Kern of Tulsa, Julie Lankford Yousey and Jennifer Lankford Beaty of Oklahoma City; and four great-grandchildren, Mason and Max Beaty of Oklahoma City, Jackson Carroll and Stella Grace Kern of Tulsa.
J.C. is preceded in death by his daughter, Rita Carroll who was born on Dec 23, 1941 and died on Dec 28, 1941.
Memorial services for J.C. will be held 11 a.m., Monday, April 29, 2013 at First Presbyterian Church, 555 South University in Norman. Arrangements for J.C. and his family were placed in the care of the Vice family at the Havenbrook Funeral Home in Norman. Online condolences may be shared at www.havenbrookfuneralhome.com
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