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In Memoriam
John Walter Coonrod John was born in Clinton, Missouri, the third son of Clarence Clinton ("CC") and Edna Stewart Coonrod. The family moved to Paris Missouri in 1937. In Paris John played football, and met Emily Curtright - who later became his first wife. John began engineering school at the University of Missouri in the fall of 1940, and enlisted in the Navy, who completed his engineering training at the University of Iowa in May 1944. John and Emily married upon graduation, and she followed him to his posting as Lt. (JG) in Naval Logistics, first in Providence Rhode Island and Ventura California. John's father CC lived to see all three of his sons married, but died of a heart attack at 53 before any of his grandchildren were born. John later recounted that he always assumed that he, too, would die fairly young - and expressed both surprise and gratitude that he lived so long. Following the war, the couple moved to St. Louis, where he worked briefly for the Metropolitan Sewer District, Laclede Steel and then began work for Ladue Supply, later Ladue Building and Engineering - a builder of Butler steel buildings. He worked there - ultimately running the company - until his retirement in 1987. Among the buildings of which he was most pleased was the Science Center at Whitfield School and the atrium at the Lutheran Synod headquarters. John and Emily had two sons, John Jr. in 1951 and Tom in 1953, and moved to Webster Groves, Missouri. John was active with his sons in Indian Guides, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Explorers. His involvement in the YMCA (as a star fundraiser) and Scouting lasted long after that of his sons, as he greatly enjoyed camping, hiking and - in particular - canoeing. Most of all, he was tremendously active in the Webster Groves Presbyterian Church, where he served as a deacon, elder, trustee, member of search committees and superintendent of Sunday School for many years. John was a dedicated member of Rotary, where he once served as President. John was also an avid golfer, and joined the Algonquin Golf Club in 1970. He headed up the project and supervised the renovation of the Club in 2000. His wife, Emily, died in 1992 after an 18 month struggle with cancer. In 1993, he made his first and only trip overseas, to Italy, at a time coinciding with a business trip of his son, but during which he made numerous solo excursions to Pisa, Florence and other parts of the country. In August 1994 he married Joan Redow, who expanded the circle of his family to include her children and grandchildren (something his own kids failed to provide!). John never fully retired. He worked as an independent consultant and salesman in the steel building industry after his retirement from Butler, and then went to work for Eads Constructors - a company that owned all the designs John had ever worked on at Ladue. He worked nearly full time until the day he went into the hospital. In November 2003, John began suffering dizzyness, which was eventually diagnosed as a tumor at the top of his spine - a very difficult tumor to remove from someone young and healthy, and particularly difficult for an 81 year old with heart problems and diabetes. Yet John wanted to seize the slim chance he had for a better life, and entered St. Mary's Hospital on December 10. After a long struggle to recover, a second brain surgery and pneumonia, he passed away peacefully. His memorial service was held Wednesday, February 11, 2004, 2:30pm at Webster Groves Presbyterian Church. He is buried alongside the late Emily C. Coonrod at Oak Hill Cemetery in Kirkwood, Missouri. As far as we can tell, John was also the oldest living Coonrod. John will be remembered by all as a dedicated, warm, soft spoken, hard working, disciplined and almost unbelievably responsible and reliable participant in everything he engaged in. He was a wonderful human being who deeply appreciated the blessings of his life. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in John's memory to The Hunger Project, 15 East 26th Street, New York, NY 10010.
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