SALLISAW (KFSM) — Flags were lowered to half-staff at the Sequoyah County Courthouse Wednesday (Sept. 30) in honor of former State Representative John Thomas “JT” Stites.
Stites died Tuesday in Fort Smith.
While in the state legislature, he represented Sequoyah County from 1990 to 2002. Prior to that, he graduated from Sallisaw High School in 1948, served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and attended Northeastern University where he got a master degree in education. When he moved back to Sallisaw in 1962, Stites became a math teacher and later a principal at the high school. He and his wife, Mary Jo, were also the first co-directors of the Sallisaw campus of Carl Albert State College.
According to his obituary, Stites was “a cowman, builder, community activist, family man and was loved by all.”
Stites’ funeral will be held Oct. 3 at 10 a.m. at Immanuel Baptist Church in Sallisaw. Burial will follow at Sallisaw City Cemetery.
Visitation will be held Oct. 1 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Oct. 2 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Agent Mallory Martin Funeral Home where the family will greet friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday.
