John Markham's Obituary
John William Markham, 69, of Davidson, NC passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 17, 2022 with family by his side. He bravely fought the rare degenerative brain disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) for over 7 years.
John was born in Athens, GA and moved to The Rock, GA with his family at a young age. He graduated from Yatesville Highschool and the University of Georgia with a degree in Landscape Architecture in 1976. After graduation, he traveled cross country in his friend's VW bug and landed in San Francisco where he lived and worked for the next 20 years. While in SF, he was an award winning Landscape Architect and Land Planner, designing municipal and private projects around the world. Some of the most notable include Beringer Winery in Napa, Paradise Valley Hotel and Ventana Canyon Resort in Arizona. In 1992 he married the love of his life, Barbara Dammer Markham, and they had two sons. In 1996, they embarked on their entrepreneurial adventure and moved cross country with their young family.. That same year, John and Barbara opened Markham Landscape Products, Inc. in Charlotte and worked hard to expand it to 3 locations in both South and North Carolina. In his spare time he was an avid fisherman, a mediocre golfer, a pretty good guitar player and a lover of all things nature. He was a devoted husband, father and friend and has left a lasting legacy that will long be remembered.
John was preceded in death by his parents James and Ruth Markham. He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Barbara Markham; their sons, Corey Markham and Chris Markham, both of Charlotte, NC; sister Mary Jo Baxter (Terry) of Griffin, GA; brother Jim Markham (Linda) of Woodstock, GA; and several nieces and nephews.
A celebration of John’s life will be held at 1:00 p.m on Thursday, September 22 at Lake Forest Church in Huntersville,
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to Cure PSP (curepsp.org) or the Storyhill Church Building Fund (storyhill.org/give).
James Funeral Home, of Huntersville, is serving the family an obituary lovingly written by the family.
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