John Alfred Mays, Sr., 93, of Clifton Forge died peacefully on January 15, 2016 at Lewis Gale Hospital-Alleghany in Low Moor, Va. John was born on January 2, 1923, the son of the late Charles Cleveland Mays, Sr. and Lillie Mae Harris Mays. He grew up in Clifton Forge and graduated from Clifton Forge High School in 1940. John was a true “railroad man” and a retired Engineer with C&O Railroad and CSX Transportation where he ran trains every day from 1942 to 1985. He was a devoted husband to his wife of 64 years, the late Frances Virginia Slough Mays, and loved his family as a caring father and grandfather who could build and fix anything. John loved being outdoors and enjoyed gardening, fishing, model railroading, tinkering in his work shop, and Redskins and Yankees games. John was a member of the Clifton Forge Masonic Lodge #166 A.F. & A.M. for over 50 years. He proudly served his country during WW II as a B-24 nose gunner on “Unfinished Business” with the 550 Bomber Group and as a gunnery Sergeant with the Army Air Corps 15th Air Force Division. He is survived a daughter, Kim Mays Whitten and her husband Christopher of Charlottesville; a son, John A. Mays Jr. of Tampa, Florida; a sister Cathryn Mays Dodd of Lynchburg; two grandchildren, Tobyn John Whitten and Anna Maysn Whitten; and a number of cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Charles Cleveland Mays, Jr. and Lewis Wyant Mays. A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at Noon in the chapel of Nicely Funeral Home, Clifton Forge with Reverend J. Lynn Wright officiating. Interment will follow in Mountain View Cemetery, Clifton Forge. Active pallbearers will be selected from friends and family attending the service and members of the Masonic Lodge #166. The family will receive family and friends on Monday evening from 5:00 to 6:30 PM at Nicely Funeral Home. Masonic rites will be conducted by Clifton Forge Masonic Lodge #166 A.F. & A.M. at 6:30 PM on Monday evening at Nicely Funeral Home. The family suggests memorial tributes take the form of contributions to C&O Historical Society, 312 East Ridgeway Street, Clifton Forge, VA 24422.