John Arland Harbert

John Arland Harbert Sr., born Jan 20, 1944 in Indianapolis, IN died peacefully at home on Dec 21, 2020 in Camby, IN.

He was the son of Laddie L. & Mary Edna (Beck) Harbert and graduated from Center Grove High School in 1962. 

John enlisted in the Air Force in 1965 and went through training in Biloxi, MS and Ramstein, Germany. He was stationed in Mountain Home, ID as an electronics technician working on F4-Phantoms and FLIR internal guidance systems. He was discharged in Nov 1968. After his military service, he worked on computers at Sperry/Univac/Unisys and on gyroscopes at INAir Aviation Services in Indiana. 

He is lovingly known by his family as Papa John, and by his cherished classmates as Johnny. He believed in the power of WD-40 or duct tape to fix any problem, and rivaled MacGyver in resourcefulness. He was endlessly curious, enjoyed tinkering, and believed that the best way to learn was to make mistakes trying. 

He was preceded in death by his parents and his older brother, David E. Harbert.

John is survived by his beloved significant other, Mary E. Goliat, with whom he has spent the last 9 years. He is also survived by his four children, John A. Harbert Jr., Valerie (Jeff) Haggerty, James (Becca) Harbert, and JoAnne (Shabbir) Bhati; their mother Mary Lou (Kaelin) Harbert; stepdaughter Tracy Mann; 6 grandchildren Kate, Lily, Eddie, Naomi, Preston, and Hudson; stepgrandsons Joshua, Justin, and Jay; his sister Susan (John) Hobson; brother Roy Edward (Nancy) Harbert; sister in law June Harbert; and many nieces and nephews.

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