Jon Paul Meinke

Visitation will be held from 6 to 8pm on Thursday, August 17 at McGilley State Line Chapel. Memorial service will be 11am Friday, August 18 at McGilley State Line Chapel followed by burial at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to Saint Luke’s Hospice House, whose wonderful staff went above and beyond, caring for him till the end.

The youngest of the family, Jon was born on July 27, 1964, to Mildred I. (Carlson) and Gerald G Meinke in Kansas City MO. He was especially close with his sister Merry with whom he spent many mornings on long phone calls discussing movies and travel and having lively political debates. He enjoyed working with Merry’s husband Wayne on his houses and learned many things from him. He also leaves behind his mother Mildred I., niece Deon (Cesar), his brother David, his aunt and uncle, Maggie and Stan Carlson, whose visits from Canada he always looked forward to, and other relatives who will be missed.

Though they never married, he also considered Jackie’s family as his own. He looked forward to spending time with Jackie’s daughter Marissa and her husband Jordan Yuan either in Kansas City or in their hometown of Milwaukee. He enjoyed going out to dinner and to Chiefs games with Jackie’s nephew Dillon and his wife Ashley Meyer and seeing their new baby Harper. He also leaves behind Jackie’s mother Kathy Meyer, sister Kimberly (Allen) Bridges, niece Rachel MacMillan and her children Liam and Aurora with whom he enjoyed playing.

Growing up, he was devoted to his church, attending services, Sunday School and singing in the choir. He played football and the violin, was a boy scout, and had parts on stage in community theater productions of Music Man and Guys and Dolls.

After graduating from Southwest High School in 1982, he attended Park University earning a bachelor’s degree in economics. He went on to receive a master’s degree in economics; advanced econometrics from the University of Missouri - Kansas City.

Always adventurous, in his younger days he would venture around the city exploring on the city bus. Once he could drive, he loved finding new ways to get places. He would take a longer route just to see what was along the way, which sometimes drove Jackie crazy because she just wanted to get there. While driving around, he would mention what building or store had once been at that location or who had lived there or some other interesting piece of information. He had a passion for all types of history; he said he would have liked to have been a history teacher.

He enjoyed getting together with longtime friends Sarah, Pete, Pat, Mary, John, Kristin, and Marty for movie nights, especially Marvel movies, going to the theater, wine tastings, Halloween parties (one year he was a perfect Forest Gump), puzzles or games and of course the 30-year tradition of their Christmas progressive dinner.

An avid Chiefs fan and season ticket holder, he loved watching the games with Sarah and Pete and rooting for his Chiefs. Jon and Jackie tried to attend an out-of-town game each season at a stadium that they hadn’t been to before and especially liked to be part of the excitement of a postseason game.

One of Jon and Jackie’s favorite things to do was travel and discover new places and cultures. While they had plans to see many more places, they made it to 16 countries and many states. He called one of his favorite trips the “Transportation Trip” where they traveled via plane, train, monorail, uber, helicopter, gondola, ski lift, ferry, and of course on foot! He said the only thing they missed was a seaplane, but they ran out of stops. Wherever they went he was always on the lookout for a sailboat figurine, searching for just the right one to take home as a souvenir.

Jon was truly one of the nicest people you could meet. He was very easy-going, had a great sense of humor, and was happy to join into anyone’s plans. He touched the lives of so many people.

He told Jackie he wasn’t ready to go and would miss everyone and to tell them he loved them. Jon will truly be missed and will never, ever, be forgotten.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers for Jon and his family and friends.