| Sources |
- [S74] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume IV, 1987-1999, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 24 Sep 1995.
Garfield Quilliams obituary
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 15 Nov 2007.
John Robert Seago
December 06, 1955 - November 15, 2007
Birthplace: Clarksville, Tennessee
Resided In: Sevierville Tennessee USA
Visitation: November 18, 2007
Service: November 18, 2007
Cemetery: Pleasant View Baptist Cemetery
John Robert Seago, age 51 of Sevierville, passed away on Thursday, November 15, 2007. John was a 12 year veteran of the Marine Corps. A Sergeant-at-Arms in the Marine Corps League, Detachment 1206, he was a valued officer who reached Devildog status through his dedication and efforts. Toys For Tots was his calling and, as Santa, he touched the lives of countless children.
He was preceded in death by his sister, Brenda Todd.
His survivors include his:
Wife: Barbara Quilliams
Son and daughter-in-law: David and Donna Quilliams
Daughters and sons-in-law: Veronica and Glenn Warner, Deidra Davis, Devon Seago
Grandchildren and great-grandchildren: Kaitlyn Seago, Elyzabeth Kelso, James “Dorian” Davis, Damian Quilliams, Krystyn Quilliams
Parents: William F. and Leatrice “Lee” Seago
Sister: Annette Witherow
Niece and nephew: Christina Nagle, Michael Sims
A host of extended family and special friends, including: Alicia and Jimmy Davis, Chuck and Susan Fleissner
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Marine Corps League 1206 Benevolent Fund, P.O. Box 126, Pigeon Forge, TN 37868.
Funeral service 4 PM Sunday in the East Chapel of Atchley Funeral Home. Chaplian John Linnert and Chaplain Gary Stowell officiating. Interment will be in Pleasant View Baptist Cemetery in Clarksville, TN. The family will receive friends 2-4 PM Sunday at Atchley Funeral Home in Sevierville. (www.atchleyfuneralhome.com)
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 11 Dec 2007.
Santa Seago will leave void this year
By: DEREK HODGES
December 11, 2007
Staff Writer
This Christmas will be a little bit darker in Sevier County, though most folks likely won't notice it.
That's because John Robert Seago, who for years played Santa Claus during the local Marine Corps League detachment's Toys for Tots distribution, passed away last month. At 51 years old and a few months shy of Christmas, Seago left this earth too early for his family and friends, and too early for the hundreds of children whose lives he touched every year.
"It all came at the wrong time of the year for everyone," Seago's friend and fellow League member Chuck Fleissner says. "He's sorely missed by everybody. It's just been a tremendous loss for the Marine Corps League and for the community."
A brief battle with fast-spreading cancer took Seago's life. Fleissner says he remembers working with Seago on a Marine Corps project one day when his good friend was complaining about a bleeding growth on his back.
"I told him, 'You better get to a doctor, man,'" Fleissner says. "The stuff just spread like wildfire. I felt guilty for a while because I kind of felt like it was partly my fault they didn't catch the cancer earlier when it could have mattered. He got me aside one day and he said, 'You need to quit feeling guilty. There's nothing anyone could have done.'"
That seemed ever more true after a surgery didn't do much to help the situation. Doctors gave Seago only a short time to live, but even as the days ticked down, his focus wasn't on himself.
"He told me, 'Whatever you need me to do, I'm there,'" says Fleissner, who organizes the local Toys for Tots effort. "He was my right hand right up to the end. I really miss him."
Maybe it was the Marine in him that kept him going through the tough times. A former recruiter, Seago got countless local men and women involved in serving their country. Just maybe, though, it was just a real desire to help the children - those in Sevier County who might not otherwise have any presents this Christmas - that kept the man going for so long.
"He was totally dedicated to the Marine Corps League and to Toys for Tots," Fleissner says. "He was just good people."
To be fair, there were hundreds of folks like Seago - decent, hard-working people who did what they could to help their neighbors - who will leave an empty seat at holiday tables across the county this year. They are people who generally live their lives quietly and whose names do not usually fill newspaper pages, but who live remarkable lives, nonetheless.
Another Marine will don the suit and beard this year, and the league will continue working to help make Christmas a little brighter. Still, things just won't be the same without John Seago, Fleissner says.
"He's just irreplaceable."
dhodges@themountainpress.com
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 1 Jun 2008.
Marine Corps League dedicates new office and remember one of their own
By: ELLEN BROWN Staff Writer
During the Sevier County Detachment Marine Corps League's building dedication on Saturday, there was one soldier who was in everyone's thoughts.
Honorary Commandant Sgt. John Seago, who led the vision of the county's detachment home on Wears Valley Road, was remembered fondly by his fellow Marines. Seago passed away in November after battling cancer.
"He is the reason we're here today," John Linnert, chaplain for the detachment, said. "This was the house that John built - both physically and spiritually. John was a man's man; he lived his commitments, and his honor was always present."
The Sevier County Detachment Marine Corps League was chartered three years ago and currently has around 30 members. The group supports the community's youth, with "Toys for Tots" as its main project, and also veteran affairs like the Wounded Warrior Project. The WWP strives to raise awareness for the needs of severely injured service men and women and provides services for these soldiers and their families.
"We're the best kept secret in Sevier County," Commandant Rick Leone said. "We all come together to better our community. We need to let people know we're here to help."
Leone said the local detachment was going to propose junior ROTC programs in the schools. Members are active in the support of deployed personnel, he added, and frequently send care packages and cards to those service men and women.
"We try to stay as community-oriented as possible," Chuck Fleissner, detachment adjutant, said. "We have served over 20,000 kids over the past three years through 'Toys for Tots.' We're trying to get more of the younger generation (to become detachment members) - World War II is a quickly-passing generation."
Rep. Doug Overbey attended the dedication ceremony and told detachment members he was impressed by the building and the group's care and workmanship.
"Thank you so much for your loyal dedication and patriotism," Overbey said.
The Sevier County detachment will host the Marine Corps League Southeastern Division in Conference in February, which Leone considers a huge honor - especially since the group began just four years ago.
"We are a band of brothers. We are Marines, and we don't quit - rather, we adapt, improvise and overcome," he said.
"As long as this building stands, and as long as we draw breath, Sgt. John Seago will never be forgotten."
n ebrown@themountainpress.com
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
SEAGO, JOHN ROBERT QUILLIAMS, BARBARA LEE 1982-02-05
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