Dr. John Jenkins Ivery

Obituary For Dr. John Jenkins Ivery

Dr. John Jenkins Ivery, a resident of Montgomery, AL, passed November 19, 2025, Kappa Rites and Family Hour will be Friday, November 28, 2025 from Ross-Clayton Funeral Home Chapel 6:00-8:00 P.M. Funeral Service will be Saturday, November 29, 2025, from St. Jude Catholic Church at 11:00 A.M. Burial will follow in Alabama Heritage Cemetery.

John Jenkins Ivery was born in Tuscaloosa, AL on June 21, 1938, the fourth of the five children of Mr. and Mrs. Collis Herman (Mattie Sue Jenkins) Ivery. He attended public schools in Tuscaloosa, graduating in 1955 from Druid High School. He attended Alabama State College (now Alabama State University) in Montgomery where he completed a degree in secondary education in May 1959 with a major in mathematics and a minor in music. John earned the Master of Arts degree in Mathematics from the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1963. He did further study at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, at Auburn University, and at IBM Educational Centers in Atlanta, GA, Huntsville, AL and Kingston, N.Y.

John began his professional career as a teacher of mathematics and assistant band director at Carver High School in Montgomery and later he became band director at Dunbar High School in Ramer, AL. In 1963, he joined the mathematics faculty at Alabama State University where he remained employed until his retirement in 2005. At Alabama State University, he held the following positions: Director of the Computer Center, Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Science of University College, and Compliance Officer for the Athletics Department. In the ASU Faculty Senate, he served as Senator, Parliamentarian, Chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee, and Chair of the Faculty Senate. He was faculty advisor for the Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society and, along with Dr Ralph J. Bryson, he was co-advisor for the Beta Zeta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

John’s professional memberships include the Mathematical Association of America, the American Mathematical Society, the National Education Association and the Alabama Education Association. He is past Regional Director and past National President of Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society. In addition to holding a life membership in Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, he is a past Polemarch of the Montgomery Alumni Chapter and served for 44 years as their Keeper of Exchequer. He is also a past Keeper of Exchequer for the fraternity’s Southern Province. John is past president and past treasurer of the ASU chapter of Phi Delta Kappa International, and also served as the Chapter and Member Liaison for ASU Phi Delta Kappa. His other offices include past President and past Financial Secretary of the Cosmopolitan Civic Club, and past Financial Secretary of the Knights of Peter Claver, Council #148. John is the past Grand Knight of Council # 148 and was the Faithful Comptroller of Assembly #30 of Knights of Peter Claver, Fourth Degree. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of Catholic Social Services and is past chair of the Parish Council of St. Jude Catholic Church where he was a member of the Gospel Choir, a lector, an extraordinary minister of communion and a member of the Finance Council.

John’s other memberships included Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity, Alpha Psi Omega Dramatics Fraternity, Pi Mu Epsilon Mathematics Fraternity, and Beta Kappa Chi Scientific Society, and he was a past member of Montgomery Lions Club. John served on the Supervisory Committee of Tri Rivers Federal Credit Union for several years.

Among John’s honors were the naming of the Bryson-Ivery Scholarship Fund, sponsored by Kappas, including former members of Beta Zeta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity of which he was the co-advisor; and the naming of the John J. Ivery Multi-purpose Room in the Ralph J. Bryson Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity House by the Montgomery Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

John and Thelma Carroll, a college classmate, were married in December, 1961. They are parents of two daughters and a son, and they have four grandsons and one great-grandson. Barbette, her husband, Dr. Josef Schaff and their son, Zachary, live in Mechanicsville, MD. Melanie lives in Antioch CA, and John Jr., his wife Mashunda and their sons, John III and Maxwell Ivery and Tallon Winter live in Pearland, TX.

John’s earthly journey ended on Wednesday, November 19th. He was preceded in death by his parents, his older brother, Collis Ivery Jr. and his brother-in-law, James McKinney. He will be remembered with love by his wife of sixty-three years, Thelma; his daughter, Barbette and her husband, Dr. Josef Schaff; his daughter, Melanie; his son John Jr. and wife, Mashunda; his grandsons, Zachary Schaff, John Ivery III, Maxwell Ivery and Tallon Winter (Ana); one great- grandson, Noah Winter; his sister Bobbye Sue Ivery McKinney; his brothers Samuel McClain (Barbara) Ivery and Milton Royce (Modestine) Ivery; and numerous nephews and nieces, fraternity brothers and friends.

Friends who wish may make a memorial contribution to the Bryson-Ivery Academic Scholarship Fund, P. O. Box 242831, Montgomery, AL 36124. Information about the scholarships supported by this fund is available on the website at brysoniveryscholarship.com.