Johnny Wayne Bankson

Johnny Wayne Bankson, 68, of Villa Ridge, Ill. passed away Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Manor Court of Carbondale.

He was born March 24, 1957, son of Wayne and Willa Dean Bankson in Mounds.

He worked most of his adult life as a riverboat captain traveling up and down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

Johnny was a member of the Villa Ridge Union Church and served as past president of the Liberty Cemetery board for ten years and trustee up until his death.

As a boy you could always see him and his sisters riding their ponies around the backroads of Pulaski County. He enjoyed fishing, camping and canoeing the rivers with family and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two sons, Joshua and Jeremiah; and two sisters, Martha Ibikunle and Mona Eileen Bankson Buck.

He is survived by his wife of 24 years, Brenda Lynn Bennett Bankson; one son, Johnny Wayne Bankson II; three grandchildren, Tylie Heath, Zachary Bynum and Jayden Leek; two stepsons, Justin Black and Kyle Black; six sisters, Pat Britton of Villa Ridge, Ill., Betty Beaham of Elmhurst, Ill., JoAnn Olenec of Brookport, Ill., Kathleen Bankson of Searcy, Ark., Sylvia Moore of McClure, Ill. and Abbie Bankson of Richmond, Va.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at 1:30 pm at the Jones Funeral Home in Villa Ridge. Rev. Buddy Walls will officiate. Interment will follow in Liberty Cemetery in Pulaski, Ill. Visitation will be from 12:30 pm until the funeral hour.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of memorials to Liberty Cemetery Sylvia Moore 58 Seminole McClure, IL 62957 in memory of Johnny Wayne Bankson. 

Jones Funeral Home Villa Ridge is in charge of the arrangements.