Our beloved John Thomas McDaniel, 51, passed away suddenly on May 6, 2023. He was born on July 15, 1971 in Pine Bluff Arkansas. John was the son of Nona McDaniel of Rogers, and Tommy and Brenda McDaniel of Madill Oklahoma. John married his wife Carrie March 16 ^th , 1996 and they had 27 years of love for each other, love for their children and a love for travel. They met at the University of Arkansas and were friends for two years before they started dating. John was a dedicated father and he loved watching every moment of his kids growing up. He never missed a game, race, a school play, or any event that they were in. He and Jacob spent hours discussing football and basketball and ALL of the stats. He and Lucas spent many nights playing magic and chess. He and Emily enjoyed biking together on weekends. John was a devoted husband who always held his wife's hand when they walked anywhere. Family was the most important thing in his life, and he treasured his time shopping for books with his dad, lunch outings with his mom, and evening phone calls with his sister. John worked for Tyson foods for over 18 years as a Lead Programmer/Analyst. In 2017 he began working for Teslar and became the Senior Vice President of Software Engineering. John talked often of his co-workers and enjoyed time with them in and out of work.

John enjoyed traveling around the world, he visited at least 10 different countries. He also loved his poker nights and trips with his "poker group" and he was always the chip counter and the time keeper. If you were a friend of his you knew that he would be there to help you at any time, for any reason. He made a point of checking in on people and arranging dinner with those he hadn't seen in a while. There were very few sports that he didn't watch and discuss with his boys.

He is preceded in death by his paternal grandparents Arthur and Margie McDaniel and his maternal grandparents Josephine B. Reed and Donald W. Reed. He is survived by his wife Carrie and children Jacob, Lucas and Emily all of Fayetteville, his parents Nona McDaniel, Tommy and Brenda McDaniel, his sister Marilyn McGaughy, and his stepbrother Brandon Winters.

A memorial service will be held on May 15 ^th at 2:00 pm at New Hope Fellowship in Springdale. Because John's primary focus was on his kids, in lieu of flowers a fund has been set up for them. Donations can be made at any Arvest branch to the "McDaniel Children Contribution Account."