Mr. John C. "PaPa" DeLeon's Obituary
John C. DeLeon passed away on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at the age of 70. He was born on January 16, 1949 in Galveston, TX where he remained for over 20 years. He loved the beach and growing up near the water. He attended Galveston Ball High School where he was a standout athlete. He played baseball, football, basketball and ran track. His basketball skills earned him the nickname “gunner”. John was so good at baseball that he was playing semi-pro at age 16 against 20 year-olds. The Brooklyn Dodgers offered him a bus ticket to go tryout, but he respectfully declined. That was a decision he talked about to this day but never regretted because, had he gone, he may never have met the love of his life. John met Linda when he got a job working at Kentucky Fried Chicken, the “chicken store”, that Linda’s dad owned in Galveston. The two fell in love and married a year later on July 29, 1967. They enjoyed spending time with each other and even bowled in a league where they won several trophies. John was also the lead singer of a band called “The Impossibles”. They quickly started their family when Cathy was born, followed by the birth of Joe two years later. John was so proud of his kids and loved his family. They moved to Clute in 1972 where John went to work for Dow Chemical. He also stayed active with his love of sports by playing in a men’s softball league. After several years at Dow, John and Linda went back to their “chicken store” roots and took over the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Lake Jackson. He also started coaching Joe in Clute Little League Baseball at this time. John was a very successful coach who focused on the fundamentals. He took two 10 year-olds straight from Pee Wee up to the Majors and was given a team who had finished in last place for the previous three years. He battled for 1st place the next two years with this team and finally won it the third year. In 1983 they sold the “chicken store” and moved to Pearland, which is where they settled to this day. John coached Joe in the Pearland Senior League and served as a director for several years on the Pearland Little League board. He loved being a father and a husband, raising his kids and was happy when Cathy and Joe married Said and Shari. In 1997 Tanner and Zack were born and John became “PaPa”, his favorite job of all time. Parker and Hannah were born in 2000 and Conner was born in 2003. He called them his 4 kings and 1 queen. PaPa was so proud of his grandkids and rarely missed one of their activities. He was a pillar in the sports community and a constant figure in the bleachers and on the sidelines. He voiced his opinion and everyone knew PaPa, even the coaches, umpires and referees. PaPa instilled in his grandkids the value of what it meant to be a family. He always spoke about being there for one another and having each other’s backs. Family first was his motto and he made that clear to everyone. We made sure that his family was by his side when our dear Jesus called him home. PaPa was a God-loving man and we know that he is looking down on all of us with love and pride now from Heaven.
John was preceded in death by his father, John DeLeon, his mother, Carrie DeLeon, and his sister, Carrie Ann DeLeon.
John leaves behind to cherish his memories: wife, Linda DeLeon; daughter, Cathy Tekrouri and husband Said; son, Joe DeLeon and wife Shari; grandchildren, Tanner DeLeon, Zack Tekrouri, Parker DeLeon, Hannah Tekrouri, and Conner DeLeon; numerous other family members and many friends.
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