John Buster Hemmings, 88, of Lexington, Virginia, died Saturday, August 23, 2014, at Kendal at Lexington.

Mr. Hemmings was born in Kanawha County, West Virginia.

He was the son of William Earl Hemmings and Berneice Buster Hemmings.

Besides his parents, he was predeceased by his first wife, Anne Pollok Hemmings, and his two brothers, William Earl, Jr., and Haven Hemmings.

During World War II, when he was 14, Jack tried to enlist in the Navy, but when his mother and his brothers noticed he was missing they went to the recruiting office and brought him home.

Finally at 16 he did enlist in the Navy, and after training at the submarine school in Groton, Connecticut, he was assigned to the submarine base on Midway Island in the Pacific theater. His job was to repair the submarines as they came in from patrol and fit them to go back to sea.

After the war, Jack went to the University of Virginia. He graduated from the McIntire School of Business and the University of Virginia Law School.

His first year at Virginia, he and his housemates were all seasoned war veterans except for one 17-year-old, who reportedly was thoroughly corrupted by the end of the year.

Jack also played football for the university during his first year and remained a loyal fan of UVA sports for the rest of his life.

Jack was devoted to the practice of law. Early in his career he practiced withthe law firm of Paxson, Marshall, and Smith in Charlottesville, where he was also justice of the peace.

He was a founding member of Wesley Memorial Church and chaired numerous civic organizations, and in 1961 was named the Jaycees' Outstanding Young Man of Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

Jack spent most of his career as a partner with the Penn Stuart law firm in Abingdon, Va. He used to say he was the only attorney in the firm who was not a litigator, as he specialized in wills, trusts, and estates.

His work took him throughout southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee. He chaired the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, the Highland Festival, and many other civic organizations. He was always respected as a man of great integrity. All who knew him remarked on his handsome, erect bearing, and loved him for his happy disposition and his unfailingly kind and gentle nature.

Jack Hemmings is survived by his widow, Caroline Price Hemmings; his sister, Mary Ellen Delzeit of Laguna Woods, California; three stepdaughters, Anne Hansen of Lexington, Va.; Sarah Butters of Vernon, Conn.; Caroline Vandervelde of Richmond, Va.; and six step-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m.on Thursday, August 28, at Grace Presbyterian Church, with reception to follow at Kendal.