John E. Hemphill, 56, of Paris, formerly of Mexico, MO passed away on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at Monroe Manor Cottage in Paris, MO where he's been a resident the past four years.

A visitation will be held from 9 to 11 am on Friday, June 12th, at Arnold Funeral Home. Blue jeans, camouflage, Carharrt, ball caps, etc. are welcome. Military honors will follow at 11:15 am at East Lawn Memorial Park.

John was born on August 20, 1969, in Columbia, the son of Brad and Marinelle (James) Hemphill.

John was a 1987 graduate of Mexico High School. After graduation, he proudly served in the U.S. Army as a Combat Engineer, including a deployment in Anchorage, AK. Following his military service, he returned to Mexico and worked at Mexico Plastics for several years. He earned a bachelor's degree in 2007 in Flexographic Printing from the University of Central Missouri-Rolla. John spent many years with Prime Package and Label in St. Louis, where he led Research and Development efforts and supervised certain plant operations. He was instrumental in creating a heat-transfer label used on large cartons, such as kitty litter pails and Quikrete buckets.

John enjoyed target shooting and reloading ammunition and worked a hobby job at Graf & Sons, sharing his knowledge and gifts with countless others. John arranged target practice after Easter and Thanksgiving that the whole family enjoyed for many years, teaching many family members about gun safety and how to shoot. His children have fond memories of visiting with him while reloading and hearing the best classic rock songs, as well as funny songs like, "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd". John's favorite band was Lynryd Skynrd and he used his favorite song, Simple Man, to introduce and describe himself in his college philosophy course.

John had a passion for cutting and splitting firewood, starting as a boy with his grandfather and father, later sharing those skills with his son, daughter and grandchildren. John was very intelligent, an extremely hard worker and was blessed with keen mechanical aptitude and creativity. He designed and built a commercial grade log splitter with a grapple hook used to hoist large logs for splitting. Treasured family memories include family wood splitting events in Mexico, Columbia and St. Louis. His largest logs yielded 65-70 pieces of firewood, a feat that reflected both his ingenuity and determination.

John's favorite memories were of time spent with his family, particularly his grandchildren. He delighted in making homemade ice cream and setting off fireworks for them on Independence Day and teaching them how to make homemade pizza, an annual New Years Eve event for many years.

Survivors include his mother, Marinelle Sheeley of Columbia; one daughter, Elizabeth (Marcus) Power of Centralia; one son, Shelby (Karra) Hemphill of Mexico; six grandchildren, Gaige, Tyler, Brooklynn, Cheyenne, Emma, and Bradley; one sister, Kari (Matt) Clark of St. Louis; one honorary sister, Deborah (Koppenhafer) O'Brien of St Louis; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

John was preceded in death by his father, Brad Hemphill; step-father, Ron Sheeley; and one grandson, Alex Power.

John's family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the staff at Monroe Manor for creating such a caring, peaceful environment for their residents, serving as extended family and social structure, tending to residents' needs, flexing to provide John with food he liked and treating him like a beloved brother.

Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association. They may be sent in care of Arnold Funeral Home, 425 S. Jefferson Street, Mexico, MO 65265.