His mother, whom he adored, was Eldred Lucille Mead, whose family lived in the Americas for a several centuries.
His father was John Stanley Gunner, whose parents immigrated to America from England.
Dad was always so proud that he carried both his parents’ names. He said, “I was the firstborn son, and being the firstborn son, they loved me so much that I was told they wanted me to have both their names” – John after his father and Eldred after his mother. “My mother and father were wonderful parents,” he said.
When dad was 1 month old his father was furloughed from his job, and a week later the family moved to the San Fernando Valley in CA to live with his mom’s parents. Dad spent the rest of his first year there, enjoying the goat’s milk and being with extended family. The next year they moved back to Omaha, and 6 months later Dad’s brother Doug was born.
Growing up Dad was called John E (for Eldred), which turned into Johnny. He enjoyed school and riding his beloved bicycle, which he wanted to put in his bed. His mother packed his lunch and his favorite was a peanut butter, mayonnaise and lettuce sandwich! Recently Dad’s favorite sandwich was grilled cheese with sliced tomatoes and mustard on it!
Dad was a typical mischievous little boy, taking walks with his dog without telling anyone and getting picked up by the police, or backing into a cactus and spending the evening with his parents and some tweezers. He played baseball in the street and accidently broke Doug’s nose on a swing when Doug was the catcher. He even tried to save his dad some money on gasoline – here are his words:
“One of the very earliest experiences I can remember was of trying to help my dad with his automobile. As a little boy I tried to save him the money he was spending at the gasoline station by filling up his gas tank with the water hose. Nothing was said until my father couldn’t start the car. He became frustrated trying to start the car and not finding out what the problems were that were associated with it. As he was trying to clean up the grease and oil from his hands, he was able to use some of the gasoline, but he found that the oil and grease didn’t really come off. He noticed there was extra gasoline that had spilled over on the cement, and it didn’t evaporate; it just kind of stayed there. He knew that there was a problem. When he confronted me, I said I was being helpful and I had saved him a lot of money. Well that caused a firm episode of family frustration.”
When Dad was almost 6 another brother, Neil, was born, but did not survive the day. I know he is enjoying getting to know Neil right now!
Dad took tap dancing lessons as a child and was quite the dancer from then on. At the nearby lake he enjoyed fishing in the summer and ice-skating in the winter. He also joined the cub scouts.
Dad’s father worked for the Union Pacific Railroad so during the summers Dad and his mom would ride the train for free to CA to visit his mom’s side of the family. He said he loved those experiences on the train and visiting all his extended family.
When he was 12, the family moved to Pittsburgh, PA. Dad could always remember the date – June 6, 1944 because it was the day the allied forces landed on the Normandy beaches to launch an assault on Nazi-occupied France. He remembered hearing about it on the car radio the day they left Omaha.
It was in Pittsburgh that dad remembers he started doing chores. His least favorite was shoveling coal into the coal chute. Twice a year loads of coal would be dumped in the street and he’d have to wheelbarrow it up to the house and shovel it into the chute leading to the basement, where it was used to heat the house.
In middle school dad joined the YMCA and became very involved in all their activities. A particular favorite of his was fastball.
Dad attended Bellevue High School, where he played on the basketball and football teams and sang in the chorus and a men’s quartet. The spring of his sophomore year he had 2 jobs – cleaning a barber shop after closing hours for $2 a night, and at the Bellevue theater where he made $1 a night plus 2 show passes per week. The jobs didn’t last long as summer vacation started and, in his words, “that summer all I did was eat, sleep and play ball.” In high school he wrote, “My philosophy on life is that coming into this world is wonderful.”
On Sundays the family would attend the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games. Thus started his love for the Pittsburgh sports teams – he was a Pirates and Steelers fan to the end.
Dad mentioned many times the conversation he had with his father upon graduating high school in 1950. Grandpa told him, “The party’s over, now you have three options – work, military, or school.” Dad chose the first and went to work at American Standard, enameling bathtubs, sinks and so on. It was hot, tiring work, and he had to take sweat pills to keep hydrated. He said it was good money but awful work and only lasted there 3 months.
He now only had two choices left, so he joined the Air National Guard in March 1951, and was called into active duty in the United States Air Force that November. Dad was a communications specialist stationed in Kangnung, South Korea. He was honorably discharged in March 1953, and then attended a summer camp where he played the role of Lt. Cable in South Pacific – he loved to sing.
Now down to one choice. Dad started his college career at Indiana State Teacher’s College in PA. After his first year there he got a summer job with the Utah Parks driving buses in Bryce Canyon. There he met members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with whom he really enjoyed interacting. He went back to another year of school in PA, then returned to the Utah Parks for the summer as a tour director/bus driver. His friends there encouraged him to go to Brigham Young University, so he took a day off to drive up to Provo with his transcript to see if they would accept him. They did and he went straight to Provo to start school when the summer job ended.
It was there Dad met Karin Richards, learned about the gospel, and chose to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were married in Dec. 1957, in the middle of finals, first at the ward building, then sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. Dad graduated in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science degree. Dad interviewed to teach at an elementary school in Sacramento, CA and got the job so they moved to the Golden State. Dad later taught 7th grade social studies, math and PE, and when he didn’t know the answer to a student’s question he would tell them “I’ll have an answer tomorrow” and then take the books home to figure it out.
The happy couple bought their first home shortly after the arrival of their first child, Steve, in 1959. Dad continued to teach Intermediate school, and they eventually moved to a bigger home in 1964. I joined the family in 1965, the same year Dad finished his Master’s degree in Counseling and Guidance at California State University Sacramento. Soon after he started working as a counselor at Rio Americano High School.
One of my standout memories from my childhood is sitting on the fence at our home sulking after getting my hair cut really short. Dad came home from work and pulled in the driveway and saw me and we had a moment where he comforted me and told me how cute it looked. I was a daddy’s girl and he made it all better. I was always proud to go to the Daddy Daughter Dances with him.
Julie, born in 1967, made the Gunner family complete.
Dad loved to vacation at Anchor Bay, along the Northern California coast. We also had many wonderful family vacations to Santa Cruz and Lake Tahoe. Dad would often take us kids snow skiing and he reminded me recently that we would say to him, “see you at the bottom Dad.”
Dad was a long-time cub and boy scout leader and had a wonderful ability to help almost all of his boys earn their Eagle Scout awards. He also served as Sunday School Superintendent in the ward and spent many years coaching Steve’s Little League teams.
Dad was a beloved high school counselor, loved by students and colleagues alike. He spent several summers taking students to Europe with the Foreign Study League, and stopped just before I was old enough to go! In 1980, after 14 years as a high school counselor dad left his educational career behind. About the same time he made decisions that led him away from our home and the Church. Dad bought a custom seat cover business and called it Neat Seat, and Julie and I both worked part time there. He also serviced 200 accounts in Northern California for Ruff Tuff Products.
In 1986, Dad married Tina Yates, but the marriage did not last long. In 1987, his father, who by then lived in Sun City, passed away and Dad soon relocated to the house in Arizona.
Dad was a dog lover. From his childhood pets Fella and Toby, to our family dogs Ginger and Buttons, to his beloved Bridget, who accompanied him in his move from CA to AZ, he was always heartbroken when they passed away.
In Sun City Dad enjoyed the Sun Dial Men’s Club where he played his favorite card games – Bridge, Gin, Poker and Hold ‘em/Omaha - and made many friends. He served as President of the club for 2 years, and as Treasurer and Secretary 3 years. In 1998 he was honored with their Man of the Year award.
More recently, until the Coronavirus shut things down, the highlight of Dad’s week was Mondays when he played duplicate bridge with a wonderful group of friends.
All my kids remember the fun rides around the neighborhood in his golf cart, and him letting them drive it.
Dad enjoyed the company of many lady friends over the years, but he also loved his independence and his sports and politics on TV.
In August 2006 me, Julie, Steve, and his son Kellen, went with Dad on a trip to Pittsburgh to see his brother, Doug, see where they grew up, and of course attend some sporting events. We enjoyed seeing the places they frequented as youths, the homes they lived in (including the one with the coal chute), and took road trips to Niagara Falls and Palmyra, New York. Dad also got to attend three Pirates games and one Steelers game while there. He was in heaven!
In 2012 Dad had back surgery and spent 2 weeks in a rehab facility. It was there, after having a lot of time to ponder on his life and the decisions he’d made, that he chose to start his journey back to the Church and the gospel of Jesus Christ. He always said he “knew it was true, it was just hard to live it”. He was helped by so many wonderful people in the Sun City Ward, our family thanks you for your love and support of our Dad as he made his way back into the fold. Dad was also a great missionary, telling his lady friends about the gospel and some of them participated in lessons with the missionaries.
In 2014 he made the decision to move to an independent living facility, Vista Del Rio, where he met Dayna Seigel and enjoyed her companionship. She learned about the gospel and the church from Dad.
Dad was very driven by his feelings. I remember several times he would break out in song, “Feelings…oh wo wo feelings.” For several years now Dad’s mantra was “I just want to be with my family.” He knew that he could only be with us forever by being re-baptized and having his priesthood and temple blessings restored, and once he set his mind to it he was all in.
In October 2016 Dad was re-baptized and reinstated as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a happy day for our family and for many of you!
Another happy day was March 6, 2020 when Dad returned to the temple. For many of us that was the last time we attended the temple before they closed by the pandemic.
Dad was a hugger. My son, Riley, remembers he would always insist on giving a hug and a kiss on the cheek every time the kids saw him.
Dad was also a bit of a rebel, thinking the rules didn’t apply to him. I remember going to an outdoor sports game and the line of cars to enter the parking lot was really backed up and Dad drove up the wrong side of the road to the front of the line. Us kids were ducking our heads the whole time we were so embarrassed. Steve says this was at the 1984 Holiday Bowl, where BYU played Michigan at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.
I do have wonderful memories of going to Giants and A’s games with him, he helped me gain my love of sports. Dad was a huge BYU sports fan – loving football and men’s basketball, and of course gymnastics while his granddaughter, Makenzie, was on the team. He was always so proud to have attended BYU and talked over the years about what a great school experience it was.
About a year ago, when asked how he wanted to be remembered he said, “It took a lifetime to grow up and mature.”
That lifetime on earth has come to an end. Dad was a good friend to many, he was a good dad to us kids, a good grandfather and great-grandfather, and he was a good man with a good heart. I thank my Father in Heaven for the knowledge I have that through His great plan of happiness I will see Dad again.
I believe we can all reunite with our loved ones again.
John is survived by his ex-wife, Karin Richards Gunner, and three children, Steven (Kristine) Gunner, Alyson (Lorne) Johnson and Julie Gunner; eight grandchildren, Kellen (Olivia) Gunner, Melissa Gunner (Ryan Cronin), Austin Gunner and Savannah (Craig) Reeves, Taylor (Kendra) Johnson, Makenzie (Jon Halliday), Riley Johnson and Kade Johnson, as well as 5 great-grandchildren.
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