John Renk

John Renk was born on May 25, 1920 close to Dodge, North Dakota. He was the youngest child of 11 born to Friedrick Renk and Sophia Seefried. When a tornado destroyed their house and farm in 1925, the family moved to Montana. The terrain was very rough, farming was nearly impossible and the countryside was not suitable for raising a family. After 1 year, they moved back to Dodge where the land was better suited for farming and there was a local Seventh Day Adventist Church for the family to attend. The first church that John remembers attending was in a sod house with seats made out of 12 inch planks with no backs. John attended elementary school in a 1 room country school in Mercer County, North Dakota and he attended Golden Valley High School. He learned about hard work and how to farm the land and raise crops from his dad, while working side by side with him on the farm. As a young boy, some of his chores included milking the cows and working in the fields. During the harsh North Dakota winters, before going to school he would bring coal and water into the house for his mother. In 1937, the family moved to a farm close to Golden Valley, North Dakota. A year later when he was 18 years old, his dad passed away suddenly. John's mother quickly remarried and moved to Washington. John and his brother, Sam were left alone to take care of the farm, do their own cooking and take care of the house. Quite a responsibility for them at the ages of 18 and 21. At this point, John could no longer attend school due to the responsibilities of the farm. He never had the opportunity to go back to high school and graduate, even though he wanted to.
In 1942, John met a shy girl by the name of Ella Schlenker at a Youth Rally, but she was dating someone else. They would periodically see each other at church activities and eventually John and Ella started dating regularly. In February 1943, John proposed to Ella and she accepted. They never set a wedding date, but they knew they would get married sometime. In June 1943 they had their blood tests done for a marriage license. The plan was to go to the courthouse and be married by a justice of the peace. That summer, Elder M. F. Grau came to Kildeer, North Dakota to hold an evangelistic series and prior to one of the evening meetings on July 11, 1943 they asked the pastor to marry them. John and Ella rented a farm in Golden Valley, North Dakota for about 4 years, then they bought a farm in Goodrich, North Dakota where they lived for 33 years. Two brothers married two sisters and they farmed together for many years. The two families even lived in the same 2 story house for several years. Their 7 children were more like siblings to each other than cousins. Farm life was difficult, but the lessons John learned from his dad proved invaluable. His pride and joy were his herd of Black Angus cattle that he bought in Canada. He thought of these animals as his pets and he took excellent care of them.
In October 1945, John was drafted into the Army. He traveled to Neosho, Missouri for basic training at a medical camp. Upon completion, he was assigned to work in the hospital helping to take care of wounded soldiers. Ella was pregnant with their first child, so she remained in North Dakota. In March 1946, he received an honorable dsicharge from the Army and returned to the farm and his wife. Their first child, Ronald Dean Renk was born on May 15, 1946. The family were members of the Goodrich Seventh Day Adventist Church. John became an elder in the church. One of his duties as an elder was to write and preach sermons when the pastor was at one of his other 3 churches. This was not an easy task for a man who never finished high school or even took a Bible Class.
John and Ella added 3 more children to their family. Irlys Mae was born in 1949, Norman Jay in 1954 and Kimber Lee in 1959.
In 1969, John and Ella moved to Lincoln, Nebraska during the winters and returned to North Dakota for the spring, summer and fall to farm. During the winter months, he worked at a furniture factory in Lincoln by the name of Harris Pine Mill.
In 1980, it was time to retire from farming. John and Ella made a permanent move to Lincoln, Nebraska where they lived until 1999. He was a member of the College View Seventh Day Adventist Church for 19 years.
In 1999, John and Ella made the decision to sell their duplex in Lincoln and move to Kansas City. Both of them were having increasing health issues and being close to Norman and Sharon made sense since they are both nurses and could help facilitate the complicated world of medical care. They lived in an apartment 3 minutes from Norman and Sharon for 8 years. They were able to remain fairly independent. John could still drive his car and he enjoyed going to the library frequently and spending several hours reading newspapers and magazines. He also enjoyed daily outings to Walmart or Target just to walk, visit with people that he met along the way and check out what the stores had to offer. John and Ella attended New Haven Seventh Day Adventist Church regularly and became acquainted with the people in the Friendship Sabbath School Class.
In 2008, John and Ella's health declined to the point where they were moved to Shawnee Heartland Assisted Living. Norman and Sharon continued to supervise their medical care, but they also had around the clock nursing staff to assist with their care. John's vision impairments required that he give up driving, which was a huge loss of independence. As John's vision and hearing impairments declined more, it became more and more difficult for John to participate in activities he enjoyed. With increasing signs of Dementia apparent in addition to his vision and hearing impairments, John's quality of life declined.
John's physical and mental health continued to decline. On June 13, 2012 John was moved to a nursing home. 10 days after his move to the nursing home, Ella-his wife and constant companion of 68 years passed away. At the time of Ella's death, John told his grandson, Joshua, that he had prayed that Ella would pass away first because he didn't want her to suffer the heartache of losing a spouse. This heartache took a huge toll on John. His dementia escalated and he told Norman and Sharon in one of his lucid moments that he had nothing to live for. He couldn't see or hear. He couldn't do the things he used to enjoy. Now he had lost Mother, as he called her. During the summer and fall of 2012, we saw a continual decline of John's health. He was giving up on life.
John passed away at the age of 92 on November 7, 2012 at Garden Terrace at Overland Park in Overland Park, Kansas.
John is survived by 4 children and their spouses – Ron and Gloria Renk of Thornton, Colorado, Irlys and John White of Harrah, Oklahoma, Norman and Sharon Renk of Olathe, Kansas and Kimber and Joanie Renk of Bellevue, Nebraska. John has 10 living grandchildren – Jonathan Renk, Jessica Renk, Eric and Kim White, Bradly and Tana White, Jason White, Joshua and Liza Renk, Kristin Renk, Jared Renk, Justin Renk and Kameron Renk, 1 great grand daughter, Katie White and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, Ella Renk, parents Friedrick and Sophia Renk, brothers Adolph Renk, Otto Renk, Karl Renk, Sam Renk, sisters Olga Renk, Irene Fischer, Emma Schacht, Augustine Brenner and 2 unnamed siblings, daughter in law, Nancy Renk and grandson Jeremy Renk.
John was a grieving widower, father, father in law and grandfather who was greatly loved and will be greatly missed.
In lieu of flowers, we would like to honor John's memory with contributions to the New Haven SDA Church Building Fund. Please give your memorial contributions to Norman or Sharon.