Fear not and please don't weep over me for God brings good news: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son for whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). If God can forgive a wretch like me, then He can forgive anyone. I believe and trust in the Lord and believe that I will be reunited with Him and my family in heaven. Since we are on this earth for only a little while, live your life for Him because everything else is really meaningless.
John Keith Harkins went to the Lord on January 1, 2021. He was born in Taylor, Texas on February 5, 1946 to Milford David Harkins and Ruby Margaret (Swenson) Harkins. John was raised in San Antonio, Texas where he graduated from Thomas Edison High School. At the age of 12, he was baptized in the name of the Lord at Woodlawn Christian Church. Upon graduation in 1964, he took a summer job as a Bible salesman for Southwestern Publishing Company in Nashville, Tennessee. John always said this summer experience accelerated his life’s knowledge of dealing with people while learning more about faith, character and persistence.
He entered The University of Texas at Austin to study Mathematics and Computer Science and married Joanna Sue Hess in 1966. Upon graduation from U.T. in 1968, the family with their first son, John Jr, moved to Tustin, California to work for Rockwell-Autonetics. The family returned to Austin in 1970 to work for Texas Instruments. In 1971, the family had their second son, Jeffrey. In 1984, the family moved to Burke, Virginia, where John represented TI with the Department of Defense. He left TI in 1999 to work in two startup companies before working for NASA-JSC as Principal Systems Engineer for the International Space Station until 2016. John served on the Board of Directors of the Dallas Military Ball and volunteered his time as the STEM Advisor and mentor to several Dallas area schools, Boy and Girl Scouts and non-profits. He was a professor of engineering the past two fall semesters at U.T. Arlington. He was a founding member of Reformed Church at Plano and Forest Grove Christian Church in Lucas, Texas.
John is survived by his wife of 54 years, Joanna Harkins of Fairview, Texas; son, John Harkins Jr. and daughter-in-law, Stephanie Harkins and grandchildren, Tyson and Jason of Friendswood, Texas; son, Jeffrey Harkins and daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Harkins and grandchildren, Hayes and William of Keller, Texas; sister, Lynda Martyn and brother-in-law, Jay Martyn of Lake Highlands, Texas; brother-in-law, Tim Hess and sister-in-law, Gail Hess of Austin, Texas and brother-in-law David Hess and sister-in-law, Ava Hess of the Philippines; sister-in-law, Nancy Harkins of San Antonio, Texas and multiple nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his older brother, David Ross Harkins of Comfort, Texas and half-brother, Sammy Ray of Lubbock, Texas.
"The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want." (Psalm 23). And I give Him all the glory. I love Him and all of you. Until we meet again. May God bless you. Relax: "All is Well!"
A memorial service will be held at a later date to be determined. Memorial contributions can be sent to Forest Grove Christian Church for Evangelism at 2542 Country Club Road, Lucas, Texas 75002.