John T. Burkholder

John Thomas Burkholder was born on June 10, 1941 and passed from this earthly life to Eternal Life with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, on January 14, 2021 at the age of 79. He was greatly loved and cared for by his wife of 53 1/2 years. Trudy (King) Burkholder survives him along with their son, John David Burkholder and wife, Staci, and three grandchildren, Lane, Aliyah and Avery. John’s family is so grateful to the numerous family and friends who were a part of his life and loved him and prayed for him so faithfully for so many years.

John was born in Quakertown, PA to Harold and Barbara Burkholder. He was the second child of six. In his younger years, he attended elementary schools in Downy, CA and Omaha, NE and then attended Ralston Junior High School in Ralston, NE. His parents moved after his eighth grade year and he attended and graduated from High School in Dallas, Oregon in 1959. He attended Seattle Pacific College on a basketball and baseball scholarship but transferred to Tabor College in Hillsboro, KS. He continued his athletic career and graduated in 1963 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education with an emphasis in social studies and PE. He later received a Masters Degree from Wichita State University in 1973.

John became a Christian at a very early age, allowing his life to be guided and influenced by the Lord. After graduating from Tabor, he spent his first summer as a camp counselor at Camp Arnes, an International Christian Camp for families and youth on Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada, before beginning his professional career in coaching and teaching at Berean Christian Academy in Elbing, KS. He spent four years there, and loved his students and many community friends. During part of that time he lived in the boys dormitory as a counselor where he probably had as much fun as the students!

It was during his fourth year of teaching that we met and fell in love. I took a teaching job in the Wichita Public Schools, too. We were married in Garden City, KS in 1967. That Fall, John accepted a teaching position with the Wichita Public Schools at Mead Jr High. He continued to influence not only his students at school but also at their church, First Evangelical Free of Wichita, where he and Trudy were youth leaders. John also became an AWANA leader.

His teaching career included positions at Southeast High School and Wichita Collegiate. He also served as the principal and head basketball coach of Christian Challenge School in Wichita and as a social studies teacher and coach at Sedgwick High School.

He took a break from teaching in 1976, turning his hobby of photography into a career as a school photographer for National School Photography. He loved the job, but returned to teaching in the Wichita Public Schools in 1985 because his assigned territory of Western Kansas kept him away from his family for too long at a time.

John returned to the classroom at Metro-Meridian High School in Wichita and stayed there for 18 years, retiring in 2003. He then accepted the position as the permanent substitute teacher for all three of Wichita’s Metro-Alternative Schools from 2003-2012.

While teaching in the Metro schools, John wrote a paraphrase of Corinthians 13 that expressed how he felt about teaching and stressed the fact that love needs to be the guiding factor. We have included a copy of that expression in your bulletin and we hope you will enjoy reading it.

John loved our family greatly and was always there for us, supporting us in all of our endeavors. In fact, I’ve always said I could never have continued to direct the choir after John David was born if John hadn’t been willing to care for him when he was a baby and a toddler. Every Wednesday evening when I went to choir, and on Sunday mornings, when he would get our baby ready for church, John never complained. He was so happy I was serving the Lord in this way and he also knew how much I loved doing so, plus he loved having that time with our son, too.

He took great pride in being a father to John David, and loved being a coach on his little league teams in soccer and baseball, attending his HS baseball games and musical events and helping him with collections of various kinds. John was an avid WSU Shocker fan and so enjoyed attending basketball and baseball events with John David and Dave Franson & Dr. Jim Fast.

God gave John a great sense of humor. He got a lot of pleasure out of entertaining family and friends with his antics, songs and acting talent! Even doctors and nurses found themselves delighted by his quick wit and good humor during his many hospital stays.

When John was in the 8th grade he fell backwards out of an open second story window trying to dodge soap that had been thrown his way. This accident took place at Grace Bible Institute in Omaha, NE where his father was one of the founders of the school and was then its President. John fell onto cement steps below. He was rushed to the hospital where he remained in a coma for a month. He had broken his arm and shattered his jaw which eventually had to be wired shut. When he came out of the coma, he had 2 very good friends, twin sisters, Joan and Jane Broadie who would bring him milkshakes after school. That was about all he could have for nourishment. For some reason, he didn’t fully mind having his mouth wired!!

Fast forward 12 years to Wichita, KS. John was teaching at Berean Academy in Elbing, KS and I was a student at WSU. The twins set John and me up for a BLIND date. Their younger sister, Eileen, and I were college roommates along with another friend, Felicia Wheeler…. and that’s how we met! How is that for the Lord working in all things to make them good!

John never imagined he would make so many trips to the hospital with serious, life threatening illnesses in the years to come. He contracted West Nile Virus in 2003, and it hit his heart and kidneys especially hard, along with other internal organs. His muscles atrophied to the point he couldn’t walk or use his arms or hands to do anything. The virus also struck his spinal cord and caused meningitis and encephalitis. When he was dismissed from the hospital after his extended bout with West Nile, he continued recovery at an inpatient rehabilitation hospital. Only by the grace of God and the many prayer warriors here and all over the world , was he able to recover.

Five years later, in 2008, the damage to his internal organs began to cause real problems and he had to have quadruple-by-pass surgery. Later, in 2013, he underwent an aortic valve replacement, as well.

In 2009 his kidneys began to fail. We were forced to accept the fact that he was going to have to go on dialysis, which he continued to do three days a week for the rest of his life. He and I accepted it and called it our “new normal,” thanking God and feeling blessed that He had allowed John to live.

Life continued to present challenges with two strokes in 2016 and 2018 and a heart attack in 2017. Many other hospitalizations were necessary through the years, but John was famous for coming through each one, leaving all of us shaking our heads in wonderment. We continued to thank God for His special grace and mercy that through it all John was still on this earth so we could enjoy life and all it had in store for us together.

God allowed John to experience a very thrilling event before the atrocious West Nile virus hit him and affected him so gravely! In the Spring of 2001, he was able to go to Florida for a Spring Training Fantasy Camp with the Kansas City Royals. He experienced what it would be like to be a major league baseball player and enjoyed spending the week playing baseball with former Royal players. Several months after the Camp, John stood in the batter’s box in Kansas City’s Royals Stadium, facing former KC Royals pitcher Al Fitzmorris.

John loved to travel with his family— whether it be to Colorado or Ireland or Mali, Africa. He and I were counselors with the Foreign Study League in both 1970 and 1972. We took students to seven European countries for 6 weeks at a time. John also sponsored People to People trips with high school students to Northern Europe and Russia.

The country he grew to love the most, however, was Ireland as he and I and John David traveled there seven times. We had a very special family friend who was actually like family to us—Libby Haire who was from Ireland but lived here in Wichita. We accompanied her to see her family and spent time with them there. We loved hosting them here when they would come overseas to visit Libby in Wichita, too.

John loved photographing and videotaping everything he saw! In fact, sometimes I wished he’d leave the camera at home so we could see the sights together! In all reality though, I loved seeing every beautiful picture when we returned from our trips. You should have seen all of the equipment we had to pack around back in those days—unlike the tiny cameras we can carry around in our pockets nowadays! John’s passion has influenced two generations of photographers, videographers and now droners. John David and our grandson, Lane, have embraced this great hobby. Our immediate and extended families and friends have all enjoyed the fruits of their efforts.

John always took great pleasure in our hosting of large and small groups, whether it be our faculty friends, student groups, First Free choir and Sunday School gatherings, or family celebrations, he loved them all and was glad we could do it. John also loved any holiday— especially the Christmas Season when decorations filled our home. I am so grateful he was able to be at home with our family this year, as well.

Survivors of John’s immediate family include his wife, Trudy, our son, John David Burkholder and his wife, Staci; and our three grandchildren, Lane, Aliyah and Avery all of Derby, KS. He is survived by his brother, Jared Burkholder; sisters, Fayth (Paul) Boeker, Barb Busenitz and Cynthia (Dennis) Wiens; as well as 21 nephews and nieces. John was preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Barbara Burkholder, one sister, Anne Larsen, a sister-in-law, Charlene Burkholder; and one brother-in-law, Robert Busenitz.

Memorials may be made to First Evangelical Free Church, 1825 N. Woodlawn, Wichita KS 67208, or to SAT-7 USA, PO Box 2770 Easton, MD 21601.