John K. Howe, 92, of Elvira, passed away, Wednesday April 18, 2018 on the family farm north of Elvira surrounded by family.

Funeral Services will be 10:30am Saturday, April 21, 2018 at Elvira Zion Lutheran Church. Burial will be in the Elvira Cemetery with military honors being conducted by the Miles American Legion. Serving as pallbearers will be his grandchildren and honorary pallbearers will be the Low Moor Lions Club. Visitation will be Friday from 4:00pm to 7:00pm at Elvira Zion Lutheran Church.

John Kadel Howe was born on April 4, 1926 in Sterling, Illinois, the son of Roy and Gertrude (Frank) Howe. He grew up on a farm south of Rock Falls, Illinois. He was educated in a one room school. He graduated from Rock Falls High School in 1943.
John then waited 6 months for his parents to let him join the Navy, which he did on December 7, 1943. He went to Great Lakes, Illinois, for boot camp then to Indianapolis to radio school. He was then assigned to the USS Allendale,...[more]

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attack transport deploying Army and Marine troops all over the Pacific theater of World War II. The finale of this was the invasion of Okinawa and there was plenty of fireworks, kamikazes and all. After the peace treaty was signed the USS Allendale remained busy bringing the fighting men home and taking occupation troops to Japan. Including John, 7 Howe boys served in World War II at the same time.

After the war John went to Bradley University. He received this BA degree in 1952. In the meantime he signed a contract with the Chicago Cubs and spent 5 years playing baseball, starting with the Clinton Cubs of 1948 (one of the best Clinton baseball teams ever). John played four more years at Decatur, Illinois; Des Moines; Rock Hills, South Carolina; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Macon, Georgia.

In 1953, John became a school teacher at Ledyard and Elvira, teaching history, general science and coaching athletics. In the summers of 1955-1956 he was in graduate school at the University of Colorado. On May 26, 1957 he married Shirley Mae Benson at Zion Lutheran Church - Clinton (claiming it was the best decision he ever made). They were blessed with 2 sons, Jeff and Joel. In 1960, John and Shirley moved to her family farm north of Elvira, both getting back to the farm and the soil that they so loved, retiring after 50 years of farming.

John is survived by his wife Shirley, sons: Jeff (Teri) and Joel (Nancy); grandchildren: Casey (Laura) Howe, Stephanie (Cassidy) Peterson, Tyler (Caitlin) Howe, Jordan (Whitney) Howe, Caleb Howe, and Katelyn Howe; great-grandchildren: Jaxon, Zoe, Zara, Paetyn, Parker, Piper, Ryker, and Kylie; and sister: Joan DeBruine.
John was preceded in death by his parents, 5 sisters: Madolyn, Marjory, Evelyn, Mary, Lynette; 8 brothers: Don, Fay, Bill, Bob, Russ, Ted, Cal, and Tom; a grandson Kyle Howe.
John was a member of Elvira Zion Lutheran Church, the Miles American Legion, and the Low Moor Lions, memorials may be directed to those.

Snell-Zornig Funeral Homes & Crematory - Clinton has been honored to serve the Howe family.