John Arthur Watts

He was born February 27, 1944, in Davenport, Iowa to Eudell Jr. and Lorene (Evans) Watts. John, a stellar athlete throughout his school years, grew up in Rock Island, Illinois, graduating from Alleman High School in 1962. In 1963 he married Patricia Mueck, also from Rock Island and, that same year, John and Patty moved to Minneapolis to make a home and begin their family.

John was a man with a plan…well, lots of plans, all at once! Like his mother (and son and a few other family members), John was a teacher – which is to say, John was a life-long learner. Doubling down on that spirit, John was also an artist. So the flow of ideas, and their corresponding projects, never stopped. He was formally trained in different mediums like wood working and metals and photography. And in others such as painting and glass, he simply found his own way. John’s creative confidence was grounded in the illuminating power of his curiosity.

For the kids within his orbit – his children and grandchildren, his nieces and nephews, and all of his students – the adventures resulting from that curiosity were numerous: pinhole cameras, the Coco Monster home movie, descending on a furniture store to measure the dimensions of a bed frame (he planned to make) before they spotted us and kicked us out, pulling us out of elementary school mid-day to witness our new kittens being born, bottle-rocket race cars in the alley, knocking walnuts out of trees and cracking them open for use in cookies, collaborative woodworking projects that ranged from Dinner Tables to fully functioning Electric Guitars to Thumb Pianos and Fidget Spinners. And, of course, all of the sports coaching.

John showed each of us what love in action looks like ~ gentle, generous, accepting, supporting, and out-loud. John never stopped modeling the courage to say the words “I love you.” In work, in play, in relationships… John sought out and affirmed life’s beauty. John was and is Beautiful.

After a decade of teaching in the Minneapolis Public Schools and at the University of Minnesota (his Alma mater), John moved the family to Omaha in 1980 so that he could help his brother Jim with the setup and management of Watts Trucking Service, of Nebraska. In the late 1980s John and his daughter Johnna started Johnna’s Jewelry and, a few years later, that business morphed into Designer Screen Graphics, a garment screen-printing company now known as Big Ink, and operated by Jeff and Shelley Watts

John is survived by his children, Jeffrey (Shelley DeJong), Shawn (Bernadette Duperron), Johnna (Craig Hjelmeng), Andre (Brooke McCarthy), Sidney (Crystal Morrison), Lorene (Domorrow Blair); his sister, Marie (Max Grigsby); his two brothers, Eudell and Jim (Julia Pieper), his 29 grandchildren; and his 31 great-grandchildren.

Inspirations for and from John:

Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Richard Bach)

Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show you is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know, and you’ll see the way to fly.

Psalm 55:22

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you;

he will never let the righteous be shaken.

Peter 5:7

Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

About that June 11th Strawberry Full Moon!

At about 2:00 am, Lorene and Johnna finished reading Jonathan Livingston Seagull to John, and he died a short while later, just as the fullness of a Strawberry Full Moon was peaking. This full moon was notable for being the lowest in the sky in almost 20 years, due to a phenomenon called a "major lunar standstill" ~ in awe, we’ll let the significance of that rest with John!

At John’s request, rather than a traditional Service, Kahler Dolce Mortuary will host a visitation from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Tuesday, June 17th at 441 N Washington St, Papillion, NE 68046.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in memory of John to:

Rock Island Public Library Foundation for the Lorene E Watts Memorial Fund for Children's Materials at https://www.rockislandlibrary.org/support