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Colonial Funeral Home obituary
625 Kitty Hawk Road, Universal City, TX 78148 | 210-658-7037

John Franklin Dennington
April 19, 1921 - April 17, 2011

Colonel John Franklin Dennington (U.S.Army, retired), 89, died on Palm Sunday at the Army Residence Community in San Antonio, where he and his wife of sixty-­-four years, Judy, had lived since 1999. He was attended by Mrs. Dennington and their daughter, Lucy Van Zandt, as well as by the ARC staff that has cared lovingly for the couple throughout their residency. Col. Dennington was a significant figure in the Army's logistical planning during World War II in Europe, for the exit from Vietnam, and for Army supply management more generally until his retirement in 1978.

Born in Texarkana April 19, 1921 to Henry and Laura Belle Dennington, he grew up in Abilene, where he was admired, as he would continue to be, for a remarkable combination of mildness, toughness, and intelligence, as well as for his lanky build, dark wavy hair, and blue eyes. A fine athlete, he was known especially as a baseball pitcher with a hard sinking fastball, striking out eighteen batters in one semipro game, according to an old clipping. Often called Bud, Bubba, or Brother by his family, J.F. by others, his teammates and fans called him Dink, presumably because "Diz" was already taken. (His own stories were more modest. With lively humor he told of two home runs "clobbered" off him by a catcher, who may have been Josh Gibson, on a team of barnstormers from the Negro leagues.) He briefly considered a contract offer from the St.Louis Cardinals to pitch for one of their minor-­-league clubs, but the decision was made for him when he dropped a barrel of Coca-­-Cola syrup on his pitching hand while unloading boxcars for the Texas and Pacific Railroad. He continued to pitch softball, however, well into his Army career, a bent finger putting tricky spin on his underhand fastball. He coached his son's Little League, Babe Ruth League, and Senior League teams, and was regarded with respect and fondness by all his players and fellow coaches. Upon being stationed in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1961, he took charge of the boys' summer baseball program throughout the European command, affiliating it with Babe Ruth League so that boys 13-­-15 would have a chance to play in the national tournament in the states.

In 1943 he graduated from Texas A&M with a bachelor of science degree, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps, and sent to Europe in January '44. Serving initially in the Supply Division, Office of the Theater Quartermaster, he then volunteered for duty as Quartermaster Supply Officer, 101st Airborne Division. He participated in four campaigns and was cited for his contributions in Holland and Bastogne. He returned home in early 1946 as a Captain. Back in Abilene, he met, courted, and wed Judith Frances Bryant, a local beauty and budding classical pianist. They moved to College Station, where their first child, John Henry, was born in November '47.