John Thomas "J.T." Woodruff III was born on September 16th, 1956 to parents, David and Catherine "Cass" Woodruff in Springfield, Missouri. He was a life long resident of Springfield. J.T. was baptized at St. Agnes on December 30th, 1956. He passed away peacefully in his home on October 24th, 2022 surrounded by friends and his beloved German shepherd, Gumbo. "Gummy," has been a source of love and support over the last few years.

J.T. was the type of man that was fun to be around. He was a person that was concerned with the happiness of those around him. This wonderful personality trait was evident even as a child. Growing up in the Delaware neighborhood of Springfield, he created friendships with a group of neighborhood boys that has lasted 60 years. The Delaware boys grew to adulthood, some of them staying close as members of the Kappa Alpha fraternity at Drury College, an institution that Grandfather Woodruff helped to save from financial ruin in the early 1900's by personally visiting Andrew Carnegie in New York to acquire financial donations. As the decades rolled by, the Delaware neighborhood boys chose different paths, but always stayed in contact and remained close friends.

J.T. was the life of the party, but he wanted to share that party with those around him, and he did it in true Springfield and Ozarks style. He was legendary at Table Rock Lake as the captain of his cabin cruiser named "FUBAR." He enjoyed bringing his friends to Friestatt for the Ernte-Fest German festival, eating schnitzel and watching his friends dance the polka. He enjoyed traveling, playing poker with his friends, the lake, and trips to his favorite city, New Orleans.

J.T. courageously battled melanoma cancer and had been in remission for 6 years. He beat the odds with Melanoma. He had become an advocate for the cause and assisted with fundraising efforts for the Melanoma Research Foundation. Earlier this year, he organized the Melanoma Walk at Phelps Grove Park.

J.T. choose to serve his community in other ways as well. His career included being an officer for the Christian County Sheriffs Department. Later in life he was successful at Sprint, as well as Ameripride. J.T.'s final career endeavor was cut short by his passing. He was not only a dedicated and knowledgeable employee of First Track GPS monitoring, but he was a dear friend to his fellow coworkers. He was a member of the family in the family-owned business, and J.T. will be greatly missed.

Visitation will be Tuesday, November 1 at 4-6 pm, Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home. Services will be Wednesday, November 2 at 10 am, St. Agnes Catholic Cathedral in Springfield following interment in Hazelwood Cemetery with his parents. He requested in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Rescue One, the Humane Society of Southwest Missouri, or Melanoma Research Foundation. J.T. would want us to remember: "It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me and I'm feeling good." As J.T. would say, "KEEP THE FAITH!"