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 John Leo Bowlby, 78, of Gardner, Kansas passed away at home surrounded by his loving family on Saturday, October 12, 2024. He will forever be remembered as a devoted husband, loving father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend to everyone he knew.
John was born on December 11, 1945 in Olney, Illinois to Carl Edward and Evelyn Maxine (Carter) Bowlby. His parents would instill a love of the Lord by raising him in the Baptist church. He attended and graduated from Olney High School. He earned his Bachelor Degree at the Nazarene Bible College in Colorado Springs, Colorado and attended the Nazarene Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. John served his country honorably in the United States Army and was stationed in a MASH Unit during his two tours in the Vietnam War conflict. For several years after John worked in Operating rooms as an OR technician, following his passion for helping people. John was called to the ministry and became a pastor with the Church of the Nazarene and other denominations for over 25 years.
After serving his time in the military, he met the love of his life Kristina R. VanHorn at church in November of 1980. Their love for each other was so strong that they could not be bothered to wait and three months later, they were married on February 14, 1981. Together they raised their two children Mary and Carl. John was considered by his family to be a man of many hobbies, an avid collector (too many to mention), and lover of anything Tolkien. Along with being brilliant, talented, funny and just down right wonderful, he enjoyed reading, working in his garden and spending time with his family. John was also amazed with Astronomy. He would spend hours staring at the stars, amazed with what he saw and with what he would read. Nothing gave him more pleasure in life than the time he spent with his grandsons, who lovingly named him Cubby. He will be sadly missed.
John is preceded in death by his parents Carl and Evelyn Bowlby and his sister Judy Bowlby. He is survived by his loving wife of 43 years Kristina Bowlby of the home, daughter Mary Benney and her husband Garrett of Olathe, Kansas and his son Carl Bowlby of Chicago, Illinois. Left behind to cherish his memory are his four grandsons Sam Benney, James Benney, Paul Benney and Micah Benney. John is also survived by his two brothers Mike Bowlby and his wife Conception of North Carolina and Chris Bowlby and his wife Judy of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Along with several nieces and nephews.
John will be cremated according to his wishes. A “Celebration of Life” is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning, October 26, 2024 at the McGilley & Frye Funeral Home 105 East Loula Street Olathe, Kansas. Visitation will be 10:00 a.m. -11:00 a.m. one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions “In Loving Memory of John Bowlby” may be made to The Disabled Military Veterans
McGilley & Frye Funeral Home, Olathe, KS
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Wesley Weston (1964)
I knew John for many years while attending High School. One of my fondest memories about John is: While John, me and several other friends were out cruising around we decided to go out to an old abanded house thet was reported (teen-age word of mouth) to e haunted.
well we all got there and went inside, very slowly and with a great amount of caution. I think if anybody shreeked that we would have climbed all over each other trying to get out of that houe. Of course we never sah any ghosts or haints, so we slowly made our way bac to the car and continued our nightly prowling about. John was a good frind and was usually ready to go out prowling about just to be with his friends in adventures.
He will be missed by many, myself included.
Wesley (Lee) Weston
Burleson, Tx
Jan Roberts (Burton) (1964)
I was not at all surprised to learn that John became a minister. When we were in high school, he was always friendly and inclusive, inviting anyone who wanted to join him in his adventures or just "dragging Main". I enjoyed learning about his life after high school and give his family my deepest sympathy during this time of grief.
Jan Roberts Burton
Class of 1964
Jim Pass Jr (1964)
John was a good friend in high school. I remember that early one morning when we were in PE (dressed in white shorts and t-shirts) that John, Dennis Foreman, and I were called to the Principal's office (Mr. Frank Godeke), to tell him where the nitro-glycerin that we had manufactured in the Chemistry lab was hidden! The entire east wing of the high school (both floors) had been evacuated to the tennis courts and adjacent street, for fear of an explosion. We proclaimed our innocence and explained that while we had "considered" making some, we decided that it was way too volatile and temperature-sensitive for us to pull off. He sent us back to PE, and advised the office personnel to sound the "ALL CLEAR" for those students who were outside! We never found out who "told" on us, but we had suspicions. John was a gentle soul and will be missed.