John K. Hamilton
November 26, 1961 - February 14, 2015

A funeral service for John K. Hamilton will be held on Saturday at 10:30 AM at Good Hope Lutheran Church, Titonka with Reverend S. Kim Peterson and Reverend Trudy A. Peterson officiating.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 PM on Friday at the church in Titonka and will continue Saturday morning one hour prior to the service.

John Kevin Hamilton was born to Franklin "Buck" and Mary Jane (Crowder) Hamilton on November 26th, 1961 in Minneapolis. He was the baby of the family, with five older siblings. He spent most of his childhood in the small town of Adrian, Minnesota where he graduated from high school in 1979. He had mentioned being one of the best golfers at his high school (but added that the team wasn't very good).

After high school, John attended Worthington Community College and Mankato State University, graduating in 1983 with a degree in Business Administration. It was also at MSU where he met Karen Wille and fell in love. The couple married on October 1st, 1983 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin.

After college, John followed in the footsteps of his father by going into the grocery business. He started his career in Blooming Prairie, MN where he worked as a field representative for Associated Grocers. In 1987, he and his family moved to Cannon Falls, where he first managed a Budget Mart store and then worked for Gemini, Inc. before taking a sales job with Gourmet Award Foods.

In October of 1993, John and Karen purchased the Titonka Food Center (when the sign still said, "Rollie's Food Center" and relocated the family to Titonka. Though John's family was always his first love, the store was a close second. No words can express how hard he worked to keep the store up and running. As the owner of one of the few businesses in town, John got the chance to work with a variety of great people who both learned from him and taught him. He also formed many long-lasting friendships through his store.

Outside of work, John was a very active member of his community. He proudly served on the Titonka Ambulance Crew for nearly 20 years, first as a driver and later as an EMT. He served as a fireman for nearly as long. He had been a Boy Scout leader. He was president of the Titonka Community Club and a member of the Titonka Area Economic Development Corporation, and previously had served on the library board. He was also president of the Lions Club. He was a very active member of his church and had taught Sunday school.

Besides spending time with his family, John also had several hobbies. Being in the grocery business, John naturally had a love for food and loved to cook and barbeque. He enjoyed golfing with his kids (but not keeping score). He also spent many afternoons with his kids fishing (but didn't do much catching.) He had a love/hate relationship with his favorite sports teams, the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Twins, and the Minnesota Gophers football team. He had gotten into genealogy and was so interested in his family's history that he would drive several hours to towns smaller than Titonka to find gravesites. He liked reading the Minneapolis Star Tribune and watching Seinfeld and the Food Network. A hard-working and kind man, John was greatly loved, and he will be greatly missed.

John K. Hamilton died Saturday, February 14, 2015. He was 53.

He is survived by his wife Karen of Titonka; three sons, Jacob Hamilton and his wife Haley of North Mankato, MN, Zachary Hamilton of Roseville, MN, and Nathan Hamilton and his wife Amy of Titonka; two brothers and three sisters, Patricia Francis of Bloomington, MN, Nancy (Don) Ryan of Aitkin, MN, Richard (Carol) Hamilton of White Bear Lake, MN, Jeff (Lois) Hamilton of Sioux Falls, SD, and Janelle (Russell) Johnson of Rice Lake, WI; his father-in-law, Robert Wille of Algona; a sister-in-law, Suzanne (Greg) Huebner of Scottsdale, AZ; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his mother-in-law, Helen Wille.

John's final wishes were organ donation and the family was able to honor his request.

Tributes