Published: June 27, 2009 05:54 pm      

John Allen Carlton

John Allen Carlton, 61, died Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. today at Carlton Family Cemetery, three miles east of Hartshorne. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Hoggard & Sons Funeral Home of Piggott, Ark.

Born May 24, 1948, in Denton, Texas, he was the son of Bill and Mary Carlton. He was raised on a ranch in Hartshorne and was proud of the western heritage.

After graduating from Hartshorne High School, he attended Eastern Oklahoma State College. His education was interrupted when he was called to serve with the 1st Cavalry Division during the Vietnam war. He was awarded the Distinguished Silver Star. He was also awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He was recently honored by being inducted into the Wall of Valor in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

After his service time, he returned to Hartshorne where he married Nancy Sirmans and they had a daughter. After graduating from EOSC with an associate degree, he began a long and successful career in the floral industry.

His career led him to Oklahoma City, where he met and later married Vicki Davis in 1986. They moved to Paragold, Ark. for him to take a job with Red Book Florist Service. In 1989, they moved to Piggott, Ark. where they had two children. In 1992, along with his wife, they built Master Marketing in Piggott, Ark.

Survivors include his wife, Vicki; son, Nick; daughter, Lacey, all of the home; daughter, Shala Peterson; grandson, Carlton; granddaughters, Maison and Murphy, all of Hartshorne, and his parents, Bill and Mary Carlton, and brother, Mike, all of Hartshorne.