John August Juenemann was born November 10, 1939 in Selden, KS to Fred A. and Rose A. (Kaus) Juenemann. He passed away March 21, 2020 at his home in Oberlin at the age of 80.
John lived in the Selden area until the age of 9 and then his family moved to a farm near Clayton. He attended Violenta Country School, Clayton Grade and High School and then graduated from Fort Hays State with a bachelor’s degree. John served in the US Army National Guard during The Cuban Crisis and was stationed at Ft. Leonardwood, MO, Ft. Carson, Colorado and Ft. Riley, Kansas. He married Henrietta Goscha on July 25, 1964 in Oberlin, KS. John worked for Decatur Coop for 32 years, 28 of those years he was the General Manager. He was the formulator of “Ultimate Lawn & Tree Fertilizer”, President of the C.M.A. Distributors, Inc. (The Ultimate Fertilizer Co.) and was an influential part of the Kanona Coop purchase and the Danbury Coop merger. John was a talented musician and shared that talent in many ways. He sang for many community functions, traveled through Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland and Labrador singing for the US Military personnel in the North Atlantic. John and his family made a musical album in 1976 and traveled for eight years singing for many organizations. John was a member of the Knights of Columbus since age 18 and served on the Sacred Heart Church parish council, scholarship committee, finance committee and taught grade school and high school CCD classes. He was involved in many community projects. John’s honesty, enthusiasm, excitement, smile, music and positive attitude all had a very positive influence on those around him. He was a true example of a God loving, family loving, and people loving person, as well as a loving grandfather.
John was preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Rose; brothers, Ben and Lawrence Juenemann and grandson, Gabe Thomas. He is survived by his wife, Hank, of the home; children: Carolyn (Kevin) Lunsford of Easton, KS, Ron (Charlene) Juenemann of Phillipsburg, KS, Gary (Jennifer) Juenemann of Oberlin, KS, and Barb (Paul) Marak of Salina, KS; brothers: Norbert Juenemann of Broomfield, CO, Gerald (Arvilla) Juenemann of Selden, KS and Melvin (Lavonne) Juenemann of Norton, KS; sisters: Rita Schwarz of Grinnell, KS, Sr. Rosalyn Juenemann at the Mother House Concordia, KS, Vera Long of Beloit, KS and Sr. Carolyn Juenemann of Salina, KS; 17 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.
A private family Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oberlin. Burial will follow at the Oberlin Cemetery. Visitation will be 12-7:00 pm Monday, March 23, 2020 at Pauls Funeral Home, Oberlin. Memorial contributions may be made to John Juenemann Memorial Fund. Condolences may be left at www.paulsfh.com