With heavy hearts we announce the death of John William Oliver Jr., better known to his family and friends as Johnnie. Johnnie was born July 13, 1940 and passed away July 21, 2024. He was 84 years old.

He was preceded in death by his parents, John W. Oliver Sr., and Ila Mae (Caruthers) Oliver and a beloved younger sister Lynn Clara (Oliver) Popham and two infant sons, Brian William Oliver, 1964 and David Wayne Oliver 1969.

He is survived by the love of his life, Joyce F. (Pogue) Oliver, two daughters Sandra Hocker, and husband, Kevin and Cindy Oliver, six grandchildren, Justin Hocker and his wife Celeste, Jason Hocker, Megan Hocker, Clint Hocker, Lynnessa DeLeon and Jose Moreno, Deull Arnold and wife Syrena, and one great granddaughter Paisley Arnold, along with a host of friends and relatives.

Johnnie grew up on the south side of San Antonio, Texas with one older sister Mae and two younger sisters Sharan and Lynn Clara. On the way back from a funeral the Oliver family stopped by Johnnie's Uncle's ranch in 1955 near Floresville Texas for a quick visit. His uncle bought and sold cattle over much of south Texas. This short visit would define much of his life until his death in 2024 .

Here he was reacquainted with four of his cousins three of which were swimming their horses in the neighbors near by stock tank. Of course Johnnie wanted to go take a look, so his younger cousin, Larry, five years his junior took him a half a mile through the pasture to see what was going on. They were having the time of their life! Of course when they got back, his parents could barely recognize him from all the mud and water, so much for a quick visit. From that day forward he would spend every spare minute at the ranch near Floresville, Texas. It was here that he would learn to ride and rope, vaccinate cattle , break colts, shoe horses, and the most fun of all roping wild cattle. These are the things that he really loved and excelled at, so much so that he became a valued asset in his Uncle's business. For the next several years, he would work on various ranches starting in 1958 on the Block Creek ranch for Hondo Crouch and Raymond Koolman. This was a 5000 acre cattle Ranch near Sisterdale, Texas, and after that he worked on the Young's Coleman Crook Ranch near D' Hanis Texas, a several thousand acre ranch. On this ranch they ran sheep, goats, cattle and over 100 head of mares and colts.From there beginning in the early 60's he was on his way to the EL Senore cattle company a 60 section 90,000 acre ranch near Fort Stockton in West Texas and loved every minute of it. In between all of this he rode bareback broncs in local rodeos under the name Little William, with LW becoming his branding iron for the rest of his life.

However when you're young, life has its ups and downs and in the 1960's ranch work did not pay well and as a newly married couple and starting a family they decided to return to San Antonio to pursue a career. Johnnie went to work for civil service at Lackland AFB and Kelly Field AFB and retired there as an accomplished electrician. During his years as an electrician, he helped and befriended many people and donated much of his time to community service. In addition he also helped his parents in their real estate and property rental business. During all of these years at Kelly Field he never lost sight of what he loved. God, his family, and horses and cattle and ranching, and he worked and helped managed the Patillo ranch in South Bexar County Texas for a number of years where he became a valued employee and a lifelong friend of the family.

Johnnie was an avid hunter and fisherman and hunted much of south and west Texas and New Mexico he also fished the Gulf Coast, many rivers and local lakes . A proud father Johnnie was so proud of his girls and his grand children. He was also proud of his beloved nephew, James Barnett Jr., who he mentored as a boy and young man and was able to see him mature and be successful and carry on the life of ranching. Johnnie was blessed with his wife Joyce, who is a talented and gifted musician and singer. Johnnie also played guitar. Together they played music up and down the roads of South Texas in venues that included churches and South Texas nursing homes, and anywhere they were able to lift up ones spirit. They had a wonderful ministry together with a lot of great friends and in all of those years he never grew tired of Joyce's beautiful voice.

Johnnie was a good natured guy with many friends along the way he was slow to anger and eager to help anyone in need . Always measured in his approach to solve a problem and willing to go the extra mile for a good cause. These qualities inherited from a loving father John W. Oliver, Sr. It was for these reasons that Atascosa county honored Johnnie with the distinction of being the 2019 inductee into the South Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, a distinction he was most proud of for he truly believed that this area of Texas was the birth place of the American cowboy. Among his many accomplishments he was a dedicated member of the Masonic order for over 48 years. He was a member of the Harlandale lodge #1213 and later the Zanderson lodge #1120. As a member of the Scottish Rite and a 32nd degree Mason he worked very hard and served in various capacities finally achieving the level of Worshipful master and then serving as a proud Past Master of the Zanderson lodge until his death. What a testament to a life well lived and to know all is well with his soul!

A visitation is scheduled for Friday, August 2, 2024 in the Hurley Funeral Home chapel, starting at 3:00 pm until 8:00 pm. Saturday, August 3, 2024, a funeral service will take place in the Hurley Funeral Home chapel starting at 10:00 am, followed by burial at Christine City Cemetery.