John Franklin Garner

John Franklin Garner, 91, of Lancaster, PA died peacefully on August 26, 2024. John was born in the family farmhouse in Winston, Missouri on February 4, 1933 to Harl Audrig Garner and Byrda Faye Pennington Garner. He graduated from Winston High School as salutatorian of a class of twelve before attending Northwest Missouri State University where he studied Industrial Arts and was a four-year letterman in basketball. In 1955, two days after his college graduation, he married Roberta Jane Kordes. John served his country as an active-duty Marine during the Korean War, followed by five years in the Marine Corps Reserves. He began his career as a sales representative at Caterpillar Inc. in Peoria, IL before relocating the family to Geneva, Switzerland, where he worked as Caterpillar’s service manager overseeing its operations in Africa. His work in heavy machinery brought him and his family stints in Chicago, IL and Raleigh, NC, the latter where he was president and CEO of a Caterpillar dealership. After 30 years of expertise in construction equipment, John accepted the presidency of Flavorite Laboratories, a Memphis-based food supplier, where he worked for eleven years before retiring. 

John’s patience, organizational abilities, and integrity were the throughlines of both his professional and personal lives. He studied the way a thing ought to be done and once he mastered the subject, he taught it with the quiet conviction of a gardener tending to his seedlings. He was a careful teacher of employees, children, and grandchildren. He chose his words prudently and rarely delivered a criticism that wasn’t tempered by encouragement. Even more notable than his thoroughness was his largesse. He was generous with his time and his resources and did not hold tightly to material possessions. A friend, a family member, a missionary, or a member of his church who was in need was foremost in John’s mind, and the extent of his beneficence was secondary in merit only to his complete disinterest in commendation. He gave freely because he knew he had been freely given to. 

An inquisitive and adaptable man, John was fond of gadgets and innovative technologies. He had a flashlight ready in every drawer and glovebox for come what may. The speed with which he took to the smartphone amazed his family. He loved driving, looking at maps, and exploring new parts of the world, especially if those trips coincided with a visit to his grandchildren. Taking photographs, sharing experiences with family members, and sitting around the dining room table with those he loved to recount the practical manifestations of daily blessings were some of his most treasured activities. He was averse to saying “no” and when solicited for an adventure or a second helping of dessert by his grandchildren, “Is a bluebird blue?” was the refrain that usually accompanied his twinkling eye. 

John believed in the Lord with all his heart and the Bible was his guide through his life. Verses that were important to him were highlighted repeatedly in his personal Bible. He began each meal with prayer and each day studying the Bible and devotional materials. The lack of clutter in his life manifested the lack of clutter in his heart. He enjoyed fixing and creating things. From woodworking projects to the diligent preparation of a batch of homemade strawberry ice cream, from the careful itinerary of family trips to the comprehensive cataloguing of supplies on his basement shelves, his aptitude for detail and follow-through demonstrated his belief in a God whose eye is on the sparrow. The lifelong curiosity that made him giddy when faced with a problem or new experience inspired in him a compulsion for the truth. He served as an elder in the various churches he and Roberta attended and in retirement volunteered in the development office at Westminster Theological Seminary. His love of the Lord convinced him of the value of everyone and everything he encountered and cultivated in him the consistency, care, and faithfulness he demonstrated to colleagues at work and at church, as well as at home to his children, grandchildren, and wife. 

John is survived by his beloved wife of sixty-nine years, Roberta; daughter Julianne Janiszewski and her husband Tim of Omaha, Nebraska; son David Garner and his wife Minda of Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania; ten grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his brother Buford Garner and his sisters, Mary Virginia Croy and Jo Ann Stonner. 

A Memorial service will be at 1:30 pm September 7, 2024 at Orr Auditorium, Willow Valley Manor, 211 Willow Valley Square, Lancaster, PA 17602 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to: Westminster Theological Seminary wts.edu/give