75-year-old John Franklin White “Johnnie” passed away peacefully at St. Luke’s Hospice House in Kansas City, MO on Monday after an eight-month battle with mesothelioma.

John, son of Kenneth (Kenny) and Reva Ann (Peg) White, born June 12, 1944, at Dr. Barnes’s office in King City, MO, the oldest of seven children. He was a 1962 graduate of King City high school where he enjoyed playing football and basketball for the Wildkats, as well as baseball and softball for area leagues.  Sports were not his only interest at King City R-1, it is there that he met his high school sweetheart and wife of 55 years, Joyce. After high school, John went on to study a year in college where he played sports before being drafted by the United States Navy. He was a Machinist Mate 2nd Class aboard the USS Stormes, his main job was maintenance in the engine room. In November of 1964, soon after John joined the Navy, he and Joyce were wed at the Empire Prairie Church and then stationed in Norfolk, VA where they started their family. While John was aboard Stormes, they operated in the Western Pacific providing plane guard for Constellation in the Tonkin Gulf during Vietnam. John’s duty ended in 1967 after returning to Norfolk via the Mediterranean.

John and Joyce went on to raise four children in King City, MO from 1967 to 1987, where John farmed with his boys, Jeff and Jeremy and his father in law, Risdon Christie. John also spent many years in agricultural sales working for companies such as Moorman’s Feed, Harvestore, and SPF Builders, he developed his own swine and feeder pig business known as Midwest Marketing and Management which he operated in the 80s and 90s providing trucking and delivery services to swine operations throughout the Midwest.  John moved the family to Audubon, IA in 1987 to pursue a business opportunity where they lived until 1998 before returning to Missouri to be closer to family. While in Iowa, John and Joyce enjoyed golfing and weekends out with friends. John was a member of Pheasants Forever, bird hunting was one of his hobbies in his early years, one that he shared with his boys and friends Gary Culver, Gary Hammer, and Art Ruemler. When his children were home, Joyce and daughter Jennifer always had something wonderful cooking in the kitchen and he especially enjoyed Jennifer’s cookies which kept him content even in the final months of his life. Upon moving back to Missouri John decided to step away from agricultural sales and start a new career path, he decided to become a Realtor. He began his real estate career with Davidson Real Estate in Cameron, MO in 1999 where he quickly became one of the top farm and land agents in the area. In 2005 John decided to get his broker’s license and start his own company. In March of 2005, John opened Century 21 Crossroads in Cameron, that summer his daughter Jana obtained her license and worked alongside her Dad for the last 15 years.

In his free time, when you could actually get him to slow down, John enjoyed watching the Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Chiefs, and was a season ticket holder for Northwest Missouri State football, all 4 children attended Northwest and John supported the Bearcats as well as anyone. He had a passion for helping others, a few of his favorite charitable organizations that he supported over years include YMCA, Wounded Warrior, Operation Smile, VFW, Crystal Cathedral Church, First Christian Church, Cameron Ministerial Alliance, and St.Judes.

Prior to John’s passing, he and Joyce lived at Lake Viking near Gallatin, MO. Lake Viking was a place John loved, you could often find him sitting on the patio taking in the view, barbecuing for the family, fishing with the grandkids, working in the yard, or driving around the lake visiting neighbors. Most of all John loved his family, especially his 10 grandchildren. John will be dearly missed.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Judy Norris.

John is survived by his wife, Joyce White of the home; sons, Jeff (Linda) White, Republic, MO, Jeremy (Barbara) White, Banks, OR; daughters, Jennifer (Jason) Winter, Harrisonville, MO, Jana (Randy) Hanson, Maryville, MO; 10 grandchildren, Laura (Matt) Byrd, Ashley and Nicole White, Risdon, Charles, and Henry White, Jocelyn and Julianna Winter, Grant and Brooklyn Hanson; brothers, Edwin White, Osborn, MO and Robert White, Audubon, IA and sisters, Pam Hensley, King City, MO, Vickie Rainey, King City, MO and Peggy Jacoby, Kearney, MO.

Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, February 28 at the First Christian Church, King City, MO under the direction of Roberson Funeral Home, King City, MO. Burial with Military Rites will follow in King City Cemetery, King City, MO. The family will receive friends from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Thursday at Roberson Funeral Home, King City, MO. Memorials may be made to the First Christian Church of King City, St. Luke’s Hospice House of Kansas City and/or the John White Memorial Scholarship to benefit Northwest Missouri State University in care of Roberson Funeral Home, P.O. Box 153, King City, MO 64463. Online condolences may be left at www.robersonfuneralhome.com