John A. Lund, Assaria, passed away on Thursday, March 24 at the University of Kansas Health System, Kansas City, at 70-years-old. He was born on December 14, 1951 to Linden and Marjorie (Hanson) Lund in Clay Center. He spent the majority of his childhood living in Green, Kan. and attending elementary classes through the eighth grade at Green Grade School. He spent a lot of time during his childhood in Minnesota, where his mother’s family lived. He graduated from Blue Valley-Randolph High School in 1970.
On March 7, 1970, John married Jeannine Modin. To this union were born three children: Julie, Jim and Janelle. He began working night shift as a mail handler at the Salina Post office in 1973, retiring in 2005.
He married Trudy Ranker on July 17, 1993, and accepted her children, Leslie and Emalie, as his own. After retirement from the Salina Post Office, he worked part time for the City of Assaria as city maintenance.
John was a Renaissance man of sorts, excelling in athletics and the performing arts.
John earned his black belt in Tae Kwon Do from Grand Master Sun-Yi at Sun-Yi Academy in Salina, as well as, played men’s league basketball and softball, with a lifetime of playing golf at the Salina Municipal Golf Course and the Clay Center Country Club. John pioneered traveling baseball in Salina as a coach for the D and J Cubs for nearly 10 years, stepping away from the traditional baseball options available for older players in order to keep his players together during their younger teenage years. He was an outdoorsman, nurturing relationships with friends and family through fishing and hunting. He was an avid bowhunter, as the license plate on his vehicle communicated for decades.
John was a musician, and learned to play the guitar in his early teens, at one point, contributing to a rock and roll band. He could sing, too, belting lyrics to songs like House of the Rising Sun, Mountain Dew, Johnny B. Goode and any song by Credence Clearwater, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Buck Owens or Hank Williams. John could also dance, taking country swing dance lessons with his wife, Trudy, early in their marriage, he never missed an opportunity to cut a rug.
John was a member of the Assaria Lutheran Church, and served on the lock-up committee, keeping the building secure. He loved people with a servant’s heart, keeping family as a priority and making family of his friends and neighbors. He enjoyed being a spectator at all of his children’s, nieces, nephews and grandchildren’s sporting events, traveling the distance to be in the stands, watching the people he loved.
John is preceded in death by his parents; sister, Sandy Stogsdill; grandsons, Kyler Connally and Kenny Connally and niece, Darla Lund.
He is survived by his wife, Trudy, of the home; sister, Darlene Cavender, Manhattan; children Julie (Joey) Hanson, Salina; Jim Lund, Gypsum; Leslie Manning, Gypsum; Janelle (Andy) Thiel, Gypsum and Emalie (Matt) Murdoch, Prairie Village; grandchildren, Mykayla, Mya, Taydan, Camden, Layla, Hendrix, Haley, Adam, Hannah, Eli, Brie and Adriana; and many loved nieces, nephews and friends.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 21 at the Assaria Lutheran Church, 124 W 1st St, Assaria, with a luncheon to follow. Heartland Cremation and Burial Society in Overland Park, handled cremation arrangements, and his ashes will be laid to rest at Pleasant Hill Cemetery, rural Green, at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to WildTrust, Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism, 512 SE 25th Ave., Pratt, KS 67124-8174; or the Assaria Lutheran Church