John Edward Tarrant, 88, of Hopkins, died Sunday, August 12, 2018. Born in Neeses, SC, on November 6, 1929, he was a son of the late John Benson and Ola Celeste Hughes Tarrant. Mr. Tarrant served in the United States Marine Corps, from 1946-1950. He was a Past Master of Earlewood Masonic Lodge, where he served as
Treasurer from 1973-2012. He was an honorary member of the Directors Staff of Hejaz Shriners in Mauldin, SC from 1968-2009, at which time he took honorary membership. After operating Carolina Business Machines for several decades, he retired 1 week before his 79th birthday. Mr. Tarrant was a member of Fair Lawn United Methodist Church.

Survivors include his wife, Janet Elizabeth Ray Tarrant; daughters, Lynn T. Peterson (Bill), Joanne T. Kelley (David); granddaughters, Nicole P. Campbell, (Trey), Lauren P. Nabors (Lee), Andrea K. Newton (John), and Elizabeth K. Larned (Joe); great-grandchildren, Daniel and Brooke Newton, and Harrison Nabors, Jack and Brianna Larned, and Dalton, Leigh Ann, and Kamryn Campbell; sisters, Jean Toole, and Nell Able; adopted brother, Marvin Thompson (Mary Louise); as well as nine nephews, and five nieces. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother, Wyatt Tarrant (Elizabeth); and a sister, Mary Stone (Earl).

The service for Mr. Tarrant will be held 5 o'clock, Thursday, August 16th, at Shives Funeral Home, Trenholm Road Chapel, 7600 Trenholm Road Ext., Columbia. The family will receive friends prior to the service beginning at 4 o'clock. Burial in Ft. Jackson National Cemetery will be held at 3 o'clock.

Memorials may be made to Shriner's Hospital for Children, 950 W. Faris Road, Greenville, SC 29605, Palmetto Health Hospice, PO Box 7275, Columbia, SC 29202-7275, or to Fair Lawn United Methodist Church, 9203 Wilson Blvd., Columbia, SC 29203.

We do not lose the ones we love, they only go before, where there is everlasting life, where sorrow is no more….and there the soul will always live, and peace is everywhere. We do not lose the ones we love, God takes them in His care.