YOUNGSTOWN – Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Greater Friendship Baptist Church for John Austen Fields II, 89, who departed this life Sunday, May 27, 2012, at St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center.

Mr. Fields was born Jan. 2, 1923, in Georgiana, Alabama, a son of John A. Fields I and Cherie Gandy Fields.

He was a plater at General Fireproofing, was a member of the church for over 78 years, member of its Usher Board for over 50 years, and was former treasurer of the church.

Mr. Fields was a 1941 graduate of South High School, served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and was awarded two Bronze Stars.

His wife, the former Thelma Williams, whom he married Oct. 21, 1946, died Nov. 3, 2008.

He leaves two sons, John A. (Carolyn) Fields III of Boardman, Ohio and Jerry E. (Marilyn) Fields; daughter-in-law Merriam Fields; sister-in-law Dr. Jean Williams; two brothers-in-law, Edward (Irma) Williams and John Williams, all of Youngstown, Ohio; eight granchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a son, Rodney S. Fields.


Friends may call from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday at the church and viewing will be from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the F.D. Mason Memorial Funeral Home

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