Mr. John G. Prather Sr.

Mr. John G. Prather Sr. was born in Somerset, Kentucky, on December 12, 1919, the second son of James F. Prather and Josephine Collier Prather. He graduated from Somerset High School in 1936. He received his A.B. degree from the University of Kentucky in 1940 and worked as an insurance agent with Prather Insurance Agency until 1941 when he was employed by the FBI Identification Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He joined the United States Navy in April of 1942 and served in North Africa and in Italy, including participation in the invasion of Sicily. In Palermo, Senior Lieutenant Prather served as an operations officer until March of 1945, returning to the United States on Easter Sunday 1945. He was eventually assigned to the operations staff at Naval District Headquarters in San Francisco where he served until his released from active duty in January, 1946. Upon his return to the United States in 1945, he married Jean Moore, in Washington, D.C. On October 7, they would have celebrated their 62nd anniversary. After being discharged from the Navy he entered the University of Kentucky College of Law and graduated with his law degree in 1947. He returned to Somerset and began his law practice and continued practicing actively until the fall of 2006. He served as City Prosecuting Attorney for the City of Somerset for eleven years, and later as Commonwealth Attorney for the 28th Judicial District, then comprised of Pulaski and Rockcastle counties. He was a charter member of the Somerset Jaycees, president of the Somerset Kiwanis Club, with a perfect attendance record of fifty years; an elder in the First Christian Church where he was a Sunday School teacher and Chairman of the Board for 25 years. He served as the institutional representative for Boy Scout Troop 79 for many years. He was a member of the Oleika Shrine Temple and the Lake Cumberland Shrine Club and a recipient of the 2006 Distinguished Community Service Award of the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, he was a member of Post 38 of the American Legion and the VFW and served as service officer for both organizations. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, the International Order of Oddfellows, the Pulaski County Bar Association and a sixty year member of the American Bar Association. He is survived by his wife, Jean Moore Prather, his son, John G. Prather Jr. (and Hilma S.Prather), his grandsons, Jerome Park Prather, Joel Moore Prather, John Hunt Prather, and his granddaughter, Anna Russell Prather, and his daughter-in-law, Joelyn Herndon Prather. He was preceded in death by his parents, his son Jerome Moore Prather, and his brother James F. Prather, Jr. Visitation will be held at the First Christian Church, Somerset, Kentucky, on Sunday, September 23, 2007, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Funeral services celebrating the life of John G. Prather, Sr. will be at First Christian Church at 11:00 a.m. Monday, September 24, 2007 with Dr. John Killinger, Rev. Joe Altman, and Dr. Robert Drake officiating, followed by burial at the Somerset Cemetery. Military honors will be conducted by the American Legion Post #38, and the family suggests expressions of sympathy take the form of contributions to the Somerset First Christian Church Building Fund, The Boy Scouts of America Troop #79 or the Shriners Childrens Hospital of Lexington, KY Pulaski Funeral Home is honored to be in charge of the arrangements of Mr. John G. Prather Sr.