John Goebel Prendergast, Jr., passed from this life on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. He was born May 2, 1943, at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI, lived there until the age of 11, then moved with his mother and brother to Dallas, TX. He received a B.S. degree from Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, TX, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, an organization in which he remained active all his life. He lived most of his adult life in Slidell, LA, where he was the owner of Mid-Gulf Ophthalmic Instruments Company for over 30 years. In his younger years, John was an avid tennis player and golfer, and he was a fisherman until late in life. John always loved holiday traditions and good music.

In 2021 John moved to Matthews, NC, where he could be close to family for his final years. John became a regular attendee at Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church. He enjoyed fishing with his grandson Mark and watching him race at cross country meets, and looked forward to his granddaughter Elizabeth’s (Kilduff) ballet recitals and field hockey games. John loved going out to dinner, and especially enjoyed Sunday night family dinners and talking with his son-in-law Mark.

During John’s North Carolina years, John’s daughter Teffany, son-in-law Larry and granddaughter Elizabeth (Keilberg) made the trip from Texas to visit him several times, enjoying meals, visiting and even a little Top Golf. Earlier memories include his grandchildren Blake and Elizabeth each spending a week with “Grandpa John” during the summer months, and a family vacation to the Smokey Mountains, one of John’s favorite places. During John’s last week of life, his daughter Teffany traveled up to spend that special time with him.

Mr. Prendergast was preceded in death by his parents Judith Anne Allen Prendergast and First Lieutenant John Goebel Prendergast, Sr., killed in action in Brest, France, on September 12, 1944. He is survived by two daughters, Judith Anne Prendergast Kilduff and her husband Mark J. Kilduff, and Teffany Paige Williams (Prendergast) Keilberg and her husband Larry; four grandchildren, Mark Edward Kilduff, Elizabeth Anne Kilduff, Jonathan Blake Keilberg and his wife Shardel, and Elizabeth Anne Keilberg; a brother Allen Harrison Prendergast and his wife Jeannie Rose Prendergast, a nephew John Allen Prendergast and his wife Stephanie, a niece Jena Prendergast, two great nephews, one great niece, his special cousins Anne Allen Bowman and Laura Allen Conrad, and his former wife Anne Mayfield Prendergast.

The following verses were important in John’s life, and key to his life and death in Christ.

John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me, I will by no means cast out.”

John 14:20 “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”

A funeral service will be held Tuesday, January 14, 2025 at 11:45 am at Christ Covenant Church 800 Fullwood Lane Matthews, NC. The family will receive friends following the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the
National World War II Museum in New Orleans, LA.