John S. Chestnut

John Stanley Chestnut, 87, of Olathe, Kansas passed away Tuesday, January 12, 2021.

He was born January 14, 1933, in Clay County, Kansas to William Stanley and Leona Evlyn (Dooley) Chestnut.

John married Joan LaRue Snyder (b Oct 31,1937, d. Oct 12, 2018) June 05, 1960 in Elverson, Pennsylvania.

John grew up on the farm. His family moved several times before purchasing land in Dickenson County, north of Chapman. He graduated from Chapman high school in 1951 and started to attend Kansas State University before being drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953. There he served as radio operator with the Headquarter Batttery 19th Field Artillary Batallion in Germany. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Army of Occupation Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.

After service in the Army, he attended Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Bible in 1960. There he met his wife, Joan, and they both shared a heart for teaching. John continued his education at Emporia State Teacher's College where he earned his M.S. in Education Administration in 1966. John later completed a Specialist Degree and worked towards his Doctorate. He and Joan taught in the rural public schools of North Central Kansas before moving to Eldorado, Kansas where he served as principal over two schools.

In 1974, the family moved to New Bern, NC where John was principal and teacher at Calvary Baptist Church School. He and Joan served together in NC until 1983 when they moved to Guam to continue service in Christian education at Harvest Ministries. In 1985, John and the family moved to Olathe, Kansas. John continued his work in education as a field representative for Bob Jones University Press until his retirement.

He was a member of Berean Bible Church. During this time he and Joan celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary by traveling to Croatia on a missions trip teaching English to Croatian children. He was also a long- time attendee of Olathe View Baptist Church.

Anyone who knew John will remember him for his faithful and steadfast commitment to the Lord. He loved to entertain family with weekly emails of jokes and funny stories. John had a love for language. He studied Latin, German, Italian, French, Spanish and tried his hand at Chinese. He spent his retirement years continuing to invest in education by helping to homeschool his grandchildren. He was an avid Scrabble player, loved to play games with the family, and accompanied all the birthday celebrations on the piano- including his own.

John is survived by his son, John Kirk Chestnut (Deborah) of Grain Valley, MO and daughter, Kelly Jo Lawton (Tim) of Olathe Kansas; grandchildren, Joanna Lawton, Kelsey Bowen (Cameron), Shaun Lawton, Charity Lawton, Erin Chestnut, Kathryn Lawton, Emily Chestnut , and great- grandchildren, James and Aurelie Bowen, Brother, Mike Chestnut (Shirley), Sister, Annette McDaniel and brother Ralph Chestnut (Faye).

He was preceded in death by wife, Joan, his parents, siblings, Lola Higby, Doug Chestnut and granddaughter, Caitlin Joy Chestnut.

The family will receive guests for a visitation from 10:00 am to 11:00 am on Saturday, January 23, 2021, at Olathe View Baptist Church, 330 N. Olathe View Rd, Olathe , KS 66061. The funeral will follow at 11:00AM.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Republican City Cemetery in care of James Chestnut, 1117 14th Rd. Clay Center, KS 67432



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