First United Methodist Church in McLean will be the location Feb. 20 of a 90th birthday party for one of its members whose family has been part of the church for more than 100 years.
John M. “Johnny” Haynes will reach that milestone celebrating his birth in McLean on Feb. 20, 1931. His father, John C. Haynes, joined the church in 1911 at age 9, and the family remains a constant presence today. The church began in McLean in 1902.
The celebration at the church will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, at 219 N. Gray St. in McLean.
Johnny Haynes has been in McLean or north of the city all his life except for 10 years from 1934 to 1944, when his family lived in Pampa, and a few months in Amarillo in 1950. He is a 1949 graduate of McLean High School, where he was a standout in football, basketball, baseball and track. He attended West Texas State College before getting married.
Johnny and his late wife, Joyce, started attending the Methodist Church soon after their marriage on Jan. 22, 1950. Joyce was active as a Sunday school teacher and organist until her death in 2013, and Johnny also has filled many roles at the church.
Their nephew, Thacker Haynes, has been the church’s pastor as well as the pastor at Heald for more than 25 years.
Johnny is a rancher who has run a cattle operation north of McLean since 1950. He first worked on the Triangle Ranch for his grandfather, J.S. Morse, a pioneer of Gray County who established the ranch in 1900. Johnny mastered riding, roping, welding and other skills on the ranch.
He later named his portion of the ranch Denworth Line Camp for the former community of Denworth, where the Haynes house is located. He and Joyce raised their five children there. In the 1960s he, his brother Sam A. Haynes and their father John C. Haynes operated Triangle Ranch Feed and Cattle Company west of McLean, one of the first feedlots in the area.
For many decades, Johnny has taught Sunday school, has sung in the choir and has held administrative positions at the Methodist Church, including Sunday school superintendent and lay leader. He and his brother Sam were in the men’s quartet with S.A. Cousins, John B. Rice and later with other singers. Johnny and Joyce led the Methodist Youth Fellowship in the 1950s.
Johnny was district deputy grand master for District 98 of the Masonic Lodge and received an award in 2019 for 65 years as a Master Mason. He was active in Methodist Men and still is a member of the Lions Club, for which he has held several offices.
He served on the McLean school board in the 1960s and later on the Gray County Hospital Board and the Gray County school board. He has been president of the Tri-State Senior Golf Association and received the Colonel Bogey Award that goes to an outstanding board member.
In addition to church activities, he has been active in tennis, golf, running, tutoring young people in tennis and golf and following his children and grandchildren’s sports pursuits. He plays the piano, banjo, guitar and mandolin. His five children are Sam D. Haynes of McLean, Morse Haynes and wife Melinda of Andrews, Sheri Haynes of McLean, David Haynes and wife Ginger of McLean and Mike Haynes and wife Kathy of Amarillo. He has numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
