All he ever wanted was a life that mattered — to know that he had made a difference in people’s lives.

My Uncle John passed away.

His life Mattered...

He was at the hospital the day I was born. When my mother fell on hard times during a frigid Michigan winter, he paid to have her power turned back on. When I was baptized, he stood beside me as my godfather.

When I was twelve and headed down the wrong path, he drove from Alabama to Michigan hauling a U-Haul behind his ’88 Cutlass Supreme and moved our family to Jasper. That Christmas morning we were at his house. He made sure it was a good one.

Years later, when I ran away from home, it was his house I ran to. He pushed me to work. He pushed me to go to college. He used to tell me that if he could go to college at forty, I could do it too. He loved to learn, and he was good at it. He would talk to me about what he was studying. His enthusiasm was contagious. That example changed my life.

He was there when I graduated from sixth grade and from high school. He was there when I graduated from Samford University.

He was as close to a father as a man can be.

The impact he had on my life is only one example. There are countless others he touched through his work with Hospice as a bereavement counselor.

The last fifteen to twenty years were hard. Chronic heart disease. A broken neck and hip from a car accident. At one point he was given six months to live.

That was ten years ago.

In that time he endured the loss of his baby sister — my mother — his wife Wanda, and his best friend. His greatest wish was to live to see his first grandchild, John Ryan, graduate high school. In May, John Ryan will graduate college.

Rest in peace Uncle John. You were my ride or die homie!

You and Aunt Wanda had my back no matter what. I can never repay you for how you changed my life.

I know I made you proud because you told me every chance you got.

I hate you were so sick. I hate you suffered in pain for so long. We weren’t promised a perfect world, but that doesn’t make any of this easier.

There’s peace knowing the suffering is gone. You’re wrapped in the arms of our Savior, my mom, and my Aunt Wanda now.

Until we meet again, Uncle John.

John Paul Sourvelis Obituary

John Paul Sourvelis, 69, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Feb. 25, 2026, in Jasper, Alabama.

John was born on Jan. 21, 1957, in Detroit, Michigan, to John Louis Sourvelis and Constance Eftheman Fowler.

He grew up in Center Line, Michigan, where he attended high school. He graduated summa cum laude from Bevill State Community College and continued his education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he also graduated summa cum laude.

John dedicated his professional life to serving others as a bereavement counselor with hospice. He was deeply committed to the families he served. Professionally, he was most proud of the work he did to ensure that the widowed spouses of veterans were informed about the benefits available to them. He consistently stepped in to support others in their time of need.

He loved to learn and was good at it. He loved watching professional football, especially the Detroit Lions. Those who knew him describe him as a jokester with a sharp mind and a generous heart.

Through his professional capacity as well as in his personal relationships, John was a person that others could count on. John lived a life that mattered.

John is survived by his daughter, Amanda Lynn Hood, and her husband, Shannon Hood; his son, John Ryan Sourvelis; his granddaughter, Emma Hood; his brothers, George Sourvelis and Pete Sourvelis; his nieces, Rebeccah Morgan and Jennifer Alexander; and his nephews, Nicholas Sourvelis and Michael Sourvelis.

He was preceded in death by his parents, John Louis Sourvelis and Constance Eftheman Fowler; his sister, Patricia Marie Sourvelis; and his wife, Wanda Faye Sourvelis.

In accordance with his wishes, John will be cremated. There will be a memorial service held in May. Time and date to be announced.