John Frank Werner

John Frank Werner, age 84, died October 13, 2014 at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, Clinton Twp. He was born January 9, 1930 in Center Line, Michigan to the late John and Anna (Nee Rohde) Werner. His parents were charter members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Warren, where John was received into God's kingdom through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Before John turned 3 years old, his father, J. Frank, died suddenly of appendicitis. Without the family bread-winner during the days of the Great Depression, the family struggled to get by and soon lost their house to the bank. They moved to the city of Detroit to live with his mother's parents' in their home. There John, whom the family called "Jack," grew up. He was close to his "little budder" (brother), to whom the nickname Bud stuck. Jack and Bud were known to play Monopoly on their large front porch in Detroit, and the games lasted months, all summer long. The family became part of Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Detroit, where John Confirmed his faith in Jesus Christ on April 18, 1943. John was a bright student in school, and in those days schools simply promoted bright students into the next grade. He ended up graduating from Southeastern High School in Detroit at age 16. While in high school, John loved playing drums in the band, except for marching band. Being so young, he was short, and he always carried the bass drum. Ugh! John's band experience instilled in him a life-long love of all kinds of music. John dreamed of becoming a medical doctor, like his uncle "Doc" Rohde. Days after his seventeenth birthday he began attending Wayne University in Detroit. He found that the pre-med program wasn't for him, so he switched to the brand-new field of psychology and loved it. In college, John became active in the Lutheran fraternity on the campus of Wayne University, Gamma-Delta. There, John was introduced to the cousin of a close friend, a young woman named Joanne Schmaltz. John and Joanne fell in love and were married at Messiah Lutheran Church in Detroit on June 14, 1952. Their marriage would last more than 62 years. John and Joanne made many life-long friends through Gamma-Delta. The young couple moved into their first apartment on the Wayne State University campus while John completed his Master's Degree research in psychology and Joanne completed her Bachelor's degree to become an elementary school teacher. When John's research became delayed, and with their first child on the way, John needed a job. His brother-in-law, Herb Bachman, got John into the bookkeeping department of Ainsworth Foundry. The company was later bought out by Chrysler Corp, where John worked his way up to become an executive as plant financial Comptroller in several plants, but he loved his work at the Marysville Chrysler plant the most. John and Joanne were blessed with four children: John III, Stephen (Alison), Paul (Suzanne) and Mark (Cynthia). After moving to Warren in 1968, the family became active members of Peace Lutheran Church in Warren. There John taught the youth Bible Class for many years, impacting the lives of many teenagers. At Peace, John served his God in many ways. He loved visiting shut-in seniors faithfully every week for many years. In the late 1980's grandchildren arrived and John retired from Chrysler. In his retirement he taught for Concordia University, calculated taxes as seasonal employment and pro-bono for many. He and Joanne traveled the world, and enjoyed too many concerts and plays to number. As a Grandpa, John thoroughly enjoyed any kind of crazy fun he could dream up to do with his grand kids. He is the proud grandfather of Sarah, Bethany, Noah, Emily, Lynae (Jay) Brunstetter, Daniel, Abigail (Steven) Schmit, Nathan (Jennifer), Zachary, Leah, Joel, Elijah and Michaela. He took his grandchildren on many wagon rides, sang silly songs, and emptied only-God-knows-how-many bowls of candy next to his TV chair. In his final years, John struggled with Parkinson's disease. John was preceded in death by his dear sister Marion Bachman, sister and brother-in-law Madeline (Bob) Bannon, and by his brother Roger "Bud" Werner. He is survived by his dear brother-in-law, Herbert Bachman. Visitation Friday 2:00 PM-9:00 PM at the A.H. Peters Funeral Home, 32000 Schoenherr (at Masonic), Warren. In state Saturday 9:30 AM until service at 10:00 AM Peace Lutheran Church, 11701 E. Twelve Mile Road, Warren. Comital ceremony at Glen Eden East Cemetery, 19810 26 Mile Rd., Macomb, with a luncheon reception following at Living Hope Lutheran Church, 24125 26 Mile Rd., Ray. Memorials to the J. Werner Scholarship Fund, Concordia College, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Peace Lutheran Church and Living Hope Lutheran Church appreciated by family.

Funeral Home:

A.H. Peters Funeral Home

32000 Schoenherr Road

Warren, MI

US 48088