Isaacs was an outgoing man who loved life and wasn’t afraid to take chances, according to his son, Earl Isaacs, the mayor of Waynesville.
“He didn’t miss much in life,” Earl Isaacs said. “I don’t know anything he couldn’t do.”
Isaacs was born in Trenton in 1925, one of 17 children, according to his son. He served in the U.S. Army at toward the end of World War II, before moving to Trenton, where he was elected mayor in the 1950s.
Isaacs also owned a mechanic shop, raced stock cars, and started his own rock band, Johnny and the Rockin’ Rockets, in which he played drums.
“Sometimes he’d take us to the stock car track and he’d say ‘Boys, we aren’t going to tow it tonight,’” Earl Isaacs recalled. “Then we’d drive the stock car to the track. Of course, he’d wreck it and then we’d have to find a way home.”
Earl Isaacs said he was inspired to get into politics by his father, who also taught his son to hold to his beliefs.
“He always stuck up for what he believed in,” Earl Isaacs said. “He wouldn’t waver an inch. Dad inspired me in that way too. People have to stick up for people sometimes. He instilled that in all his children.”
Isaacs was a member of the Moose and Eagles lodges and a Kentucky Colonel.
Isaacs is survived by his sons Earl, Gene, Russell, Rick, and Ivan; nine siblings; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
A public visitation is scheduled for 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Stine Kilburn Funeral Home, 801 Monroe Drive, Lebanon. A second viewing is scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon at the Corwin Pentecostal Church, 33 New Burlington Road, Corwin, with services immediately following with the Rev. Acy Lamb and Brother Milo Moore officiating.
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