John Powell
John Wayne Powell, 78, of Holyoke, died and entered into eternal life on Nov. 16, 2019. John was born in Rochester, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 26, 1941, to Roy L. and Mildred M. (Kelly) Powell. John attended and graduated from Rochester High School in 1959.
After high school, John went on to Sterling College in Sterling, Kansas, where he played football and earned a business education degree. After graduating from Sterling College, John took a job as a business teacher and coach in McDonald, Kansas. John would teach and coach in McDonald for over eight years before teaching and coaching in Smith Center, Kansas, for a year.
It was in McDonald where John met the love of his life, Claudia Gaines. Claudia and John were married at Saint John’s Lutheran Church in Bird City, Kansas, on Aug. 8, 1975. During their almost 45 years of marriage, they had two sons, Aaron Roy and Adam John, and two grandsons, Mason John and Riley James Powell.
John and Claudia lived much of their marriage together in McDonald, where John was an insurance agent for People’s State Bank of McDonald. John was extremely active in the McDonald Lions Club as well as the state of Kansas Lions Club, where he once served as the campaign manager for the international president of Lions Clubs International. His involvement with Lions Club took John all over the world with trips to China, Australia and New Zealand. John also served many years on the McDonald city council and was also the treasurer for the Federated Church of McDonald.
In 1999 John and Claudia moved to Atwood, Kansas, to be closer to Claudia’s work as a nurse. After the birth of their two grandsons in Colorado, John and Claudia decided to move again to be closer to them, so in 2008 they moved to Holyoke, where they resided until his death. Once in Holyoke, John continued to be active in the Holyoke Lions Club as well as being a member of Zion Lutheran Church of Holyoke.
John is survived by his wife of 44 years, Claudia of Holyoke; sons, Aaron and wife Angela Powell and Adam Powell, all of Holyoke; grandsons, Mason and Riley Powell of Holyoke; sister, Lorraine Vollmer of Beaver, Pennsylvania; and sisters-in-law, Brenda and JB Loker of McDonald and Radonda Dunker of Atwood.
John was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Joyce Grimm.
Funeral services were held Nov. 22 at Zion Lutheran Church in Holyoke, with inurnment at the Holyoke Cemetery.
Baucke Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.