By Karen Middleton
karen@athensnews-courier.com
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John Wesley Eubanks of Ardmore was inducted as one of the newest members of the Alabama Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.
Induction ceremonies were held Sunday during an annual awards ceremony at First Baptist Church in Montgomery.
After being discharged from the Army in 1968 as a chief warrant officer, who had been wounded by a mortar shell explosion, leaving shrapnel in his back, Eubanks returned to Alabama and built, with his wife, Janie, and two daughters, a retirement home on 20 acres near Ardmore.
In October 1976, an automobile wreck killed a mother and her daughter who were renting a home from the Eubanks. Five other children of the woman were not injured, but were left with no one to care for them.
Eubanks and his wife –– the former Janie Magnusson –– became foster parents to the five children, ranging in age from 15 to 5. Four days after the wreck, the Eubanks family went from four members to nine. Several years later, three of the children went to live with their grandmother, but two daughters remained in the Eubanks home until graduating from Ardmore High School.
Eubanks helped organize the local Optimist Club and served as president for several years. He was a deacon at Piney Grove Baptist Church, a member of several Alabama charities, Ardmore Chamber of Commerce, Alabama Cattleman’s Association, veterans organizations, Ardmore Quarterback Club, Athens-Limestone Foundation Board and Athens-Limestone Hospital Board.
He also visits the elderly in hospitals, checks on homebound seniors, grows and donates fresh vegetables to seniors, makes repairs to seniors’ homes, and works with others to build wheelchair ramps for the handicapped.
