John M. Banks, 97, of Eden, Maryland departed this life Saturday, April 2, 2016 at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Maryland. He was born March 9, 1919 in Fruitland, and was the son of the late Arthur W. Banks and Cecilia Nickens Banks.
John had been a resident of Salisbury Genesis Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Salisbury since 2009. John was a lifelong bachelor and had no children. He had no problem telling his brother’s and sister’s children what to do.
He was educated in the Wicomico County Public School System. He spent his life being his own manager, and was self-employed, cutting and hauling wood and planting his own crops. He was a salesman in his own right, he even sold what he grew to his own family. John was a teacher. We didn’t know what stingy meant until we met him. As children we remember him sawing wood on his very own saw-rig. He would take a slab almost as long as this building and cut it in small enough pieces to fit in a wood stove, as children we thought that was amazing.
He was an outdoorsman and loved the country and fields that stretched as far as the eye could see. He loved to grow various types of vegetables, which made him extremely proud.
He was the ultimate convincer, for example: when we would visit him, on some days he would tell us the most convincing stories that set us on the investigative path. Thank God, it was a story in his mind.
John was a great communicator; he constantly reminded us how God had blessed him with 97 years of life, therefore now making him the boss because he was the oldest. He loved to laugh and talk with his family and friends.
John leaves fond memories with: his sister, Bertha B. Reid of Fruitland and a host of nephews, nieces and cousins.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by three brothers, Robert, William and Ralph and three sisters, Mary, Margaret and Gladys.
A funeral service will be held 12:00 PM, Saturday April 9, 2016 at Mount Olive Christian Fellowship Church, 109 South Division Street, Fruitland, with a viewing one hour prior to service. Elder Ron Davis, Sr. will officiate. Interment will be held at Mount Calvary United Methodist Church Cemetery in Fruitland.
