John Cantrell

Graveside services for John "Shorty" Cantrell, 96, of Cleburne, Texas will be conducted at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 11, 2024 in Temple, Texas at Bellwood Memorial Park. The Rev. John Glover will officiate.

A visitation for family and friends will be held from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, July 10, 2024 at Rosser Funeral Home. John Cantrell passed away Sunday, July 7, 2024 at his home. He was born in Temple, Texas on June 7, 1928, the son of Annie Dove and Clyde Raymond Cantrell.

John was raised on a 400 acre dairy, owned by the Scott & White Hospital, three miles west of Temple. He was given the nickname "Shorty" very early in life, but went by Ray through school because there were too many Johns.

Wen old enough, he and his brother helped with farming chores at the dairy. He played football in high school and loved to reminisce of those days.

At age 20, he started working for the Santa Fe Railroad repairing freight cars in Temple. He worked for Santa Fe for 38 years and 10 months without every being layed off. 

In 1965, he moved his family to Cleburne to become a car shop foreman.

Shortly after beginning work at the railroad, he married his High School sweetheart, Brooksie, on December 23, 1948. They were married until her passing in 2016.

Shorty loved to go fishing, vacation, square dancing, the RV Camp, and playing dominoes, always including his family. He especially loved to go on mission trips with his church to help build new churches.

Shorty accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord at a young age and faithfully attended church and read his Bible daily. He was a man that worked very hard, loved to build things, a man of great responsibility, fairness, consistency, compassion, personal discipline, a worryer, a great provider, and loved his family.

He will be missed in this world, but has by grace been awarded his place in Heaven forevermore.

Shorty was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Brooksie in 2016; and brother, Earnest Cantrell.

He is survived by his daughter, Sherri Cantrell; sister-in-law, Doris Cantrell; niece, Cathy Cantrell Mueller; nephew, Sammy Cantrell and wife, Susie; great-niece, Amanda Motto; and other family members and friends.