John Strickland
1994 – 2016
Huntsville, Alabama

So, a little bit about me.  I am the son of John and Jill Strickland and the grandson of Rev. Joe Bailey and Joyce Bailey, and LtC (ret.) Johnnie R Strickland and Patricia Strickland.  I am also the older brother to Audrey Gato (nee Strickland).  I was born on October 12, 1994 at the old Cullman Hospital and was raised my entire life in the Hanceville area of Cullman County, Alabama.

I started my educational journey at Sonshine Preschool, and continued my schooling at Cullman Primary, then East Elementary, then Cullman Middle school, and graduated from Cullman High School in 2013 - with Honors.  My first taste of wanting to be an engineer came during my elementary school Space Camp experience!

I was very active in both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts throughout my growing up years.  I earned my Cub Scouts Arrow of Light award in 2007.  I then crossed over into Boy Scouts, where I earned the rank of Eagle Scout in January of 2010 (the Centennial Year for BSA).  I am a member of the Order of the Arrow (OA) in the Coosa Lodge of Boy Scouts.  During several of my summer vacations from school, I worked as an instructor at BSA's Camp Comer Scout Reservation.  I was invited to attend, and graduated from, the BSA's National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) Camp.  The year after graduating NYLT, I was invited back to NYLT Camp to serve as instructor.  Wilderness Survival was my favorite class to teach younger Boy Scouts.

During high school, I was a member of the Cullman High School (CHS) Robotics Team my junior and senior years.  I also participated in the Department of Defense (DoD) GEMS (Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science) Program my junior and senior years of high school.

So as not to be a "one-dimensional" individual, I also was a trombone player in middle school and high school.  While in the high school band, I participated in Marching Band, competition Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, and German Band (which is only natural for a Cullman student to do!).

Now for a little bit about college.  I attended Auburn University my first year of college on a full-ride scholarship.  However, after one year (and a nasty bout of food poisoning) I decided that big schools were not for me.  So, I transferred to Wallace State Community College (WSCC) and completed my Associate Degree in Science, before transferring to the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) as a Mechanical Engineering student.  I started an summer internship with REHAU while I was a student at WSCC, and continued that internship when I transferred to UAH.

I was on my way home from college to visit my family for my birthday when I was involved in a multiple car accident on I-65 on the Tennessee River bridge on a Sunday afternoon.  My parents were told that my actions that day led to stopping further cars from being involved in an even larger pile-up.  However, I ended up going over the guardrail of the Tennessee River bridge...and that is how I ended up here.

You will see the following - #ahugandiloveyou - if you look around here some in relation to me.  My parents started that hashtag after my death when someone was trying to describe me to somebody else.  They said..."he always gave you a big hug and made sure to let you know that he loved you".  If you look for that hashtag now, you will find that it is connected to my parent's crafting activities, as well as a scholarship program at WSCC in my memory to continue that legacy by helping other students.