The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

John Ide Pickard, Jr., 88, of Orange, died Friday, April 5, at Harbor Hospice in Beaumont. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, April 8, at Claybar Funeral Home in Orange. Officiating will be the Rev. Mike Umbenhaur, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Orange.A eulogy will be given by Chester Moore, Jr., grandson of Mr. Pickard. Burial will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens.

Visitation will be at the funeral home from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Sunday.

Mr. Pickard was born in San Augustine on May 17, 1924. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army having served from 1940 through 1945.

He was a member of and later served as Business Agent for Millwright Local 2484 in Orange. He later was president of Southeast Texas Building and Trades Council. Following this, he founded and was owner of Millwright and Erectors, Inc. and then founded and was president of Pipe Tech, Inc. in Orange.

Mr. Pickard served as vice president of My Wish, Inc., an organization founded in 1982 by his wife, Ruby L. Pickard. This organization granted wishes to more than 200 terminally ill children in Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. He was very proud of this organization and worked tirelessly behind the scenes in granting the wishes of the children.

In his later years, he founded a non-profit organization called Sabine River Basin Foundation which worked at cleaning up the waters of the Sabine River in our local area.

He was preceded in death by his father, John Ide Pickard; mother, Ruth (Williams) Vice and his wife, Ruby L. Pickard.

He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Gloria and Chester Moore, Sr.; grandson, Chester Moore, Jr. and his wife, Lisa; great-granddaughter, Faith Moore, all of Orange; brother, Don Earl Pickard and his wife, Davette of Bridge City and his sister, Paula Pickard Smith of Kingwood.

Serving as pallbearers will be Chester Moore, Jr., Carey Roberts, Pete Bean, John Comeaux, Dwayne Devers and Jack Veal.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Julie Rogers Gift of Life Program, 2390 Dowlen Rd., Beaumont, Texas 77706.