John Robert Vinson III --Funeral Director and Coroner

 

John Robert Vinson, III

John Robert Vinson, III was born on April 16, 1942 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.  He was the oldest of three children born to John Robert “Jack” Vinson and Doris Davis Peal Vinson.  His father worked for the U.S. Post Office and was also engaged in farming most of his life.  His siblings were two younger sisters, Anna Louise, born in 1944 and Carolyn Sue born in 1947.

John grew up on the family farm on Muddy Fork Creek north of Cadiz.  In 1953, he moved with his family to Cadiz where they lived with his grandfather after his grandmother died.  He graduated from Trigg County High School in 1960.  John attended Bowling Green College of Business for one year. He then moved to Louisville where he enrolled in the Kentucky School of Mortuary Science.

On August 27, 1961, John married Margie Ellen Rogers, the daughter of Kenneth L. Rogers, Sr. and Alberta Lyons Rogers who were Trigg County farmers.  John and Margie became the parents of three children. Their first child, Kelli Michelle was born in 1962.  A second daughter, Susan Rochelle was born in 1963 and their son, John Mark was born in 1971.

In September 1962, John graduated from the mortuary school and returned to Cadiz where he began his career at Goodwin Funeral Home as a licensed funeral director and embalmer. Goodwin’s was the first full-service funeral home established in Cadiz, having been founded in 1946 by the late A. K. Goodwin. Chat and Martha Maxfield became the owner of the business after Mr. Goodwin.  After working for Goodwin Funeral Home for nearly 30 years, John became sole owner in 1992 and was joined in the daily operations by his son.

Margie went to work for the civil service and her first assignment was to work for the draft board in Cadiz.  Later she was transferred to the Department of Agriculture where she worked as a regional reviewer and instructor.

In 1964, John ran a successful campaign and was elected as Trigg County Coroner with 77 percent of the vote, taking office in January 1965. He worked simultaneously as both coroner and an employee of the funeral home, He then ran in the next nine county elections where he was unopposed in most of the racesfor the job of coroner. He was elected to his final term with 79 percent of the vote. Upon retirement from the office of coroner in 2006 he was one of Kentucky's longest serving coroners. His son, John Mark, was then elected corner and John, III continued to serve as a deputy coroner in the years following his retirement

John was also instrumental in serving as a first responder by adapting the funeral home's hearses to operate as the county's only ambulance service until January 1979.  

On April 13, 2021, John died at the age of 78, at the Shady Lawn Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Cadiz.  He was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz, Kentucky.

 

LINEAGE:  (John Robert Vinson, III was the son of John Robert “Jack” and Doris Davis Peal Vinson, grandson of  John Robert and Gertrude Wilson Vinson and great-grandson of  Henry Cullen and Mary Catherine Sumner Vinson. Henry was the first child of Thomas Allison and Emeline Thomas Vinson.  Emeline was the fifth child of Cullen and Elizabeth Futrell Thomas. Cullen was the first child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)