Obituaries

MADISON – John R. Pope, 79, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at home surrounded by his loving family. He was born on November 18, 1936 in Black River Falls, WI to Floyd Pope and Dorothy Lambert, the oldest of four children. John’s early life was deeply impacted at the age of 7 by the loss of his father, who he often described as his best friend. What he learned from his father during these very early years prepared him for the roles of provider, mentor and foundational rock for his mother and young brothers. These roles continued through his life as he provided a safe, non-judgmental place to talk, and offered wise advice to his children and countless others who sought his counsel during the course of his extraordinary life. After his father passed, John took on many jobs including a very large paper route, construction work and countless other odd jobs to help provide support at home and hunted the land and fished the lakes surrounding his home to provide evening meals. One of his favorite jobs was doing yardwork for UW professor Carl Paul Link ,who John often joined at the Link dinner table. John marveled at Dr. Link’s stories of medical discovery and witnessed experiments that eventually led to the development of warfarin. This experience contributed to John’s lifetime fascination with medicine, a topic he read about throughout his life and eagerly discussed with his doctors at every office visit!

John attended Highlands Mendota Beach School in Madison and graduated from Madison West in 1954. Following High School he began a 40 plus year career with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. While working there, he became good friends with Suzanne Schwenker. Later they began a lovingly unique courtship. A rebuke of his first proposal did not deter him, but his persistence paid off and on October 12, 1957 they married at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Madison. They were happily married for nearly 59 years.

John and Sue went on to raise six children, whose lives were deeply molded by their father’s steadfast love and wisdom, guided by the example of the life he lived. This guidance lives on with each of them today and for this they are eternally grateful.

John was largely self-taught in the disciplines of highway engineering and geology. His kids would often see him at home nights and weekends with graph paper, slide rule and architectural scales meticulously preparing charts and graphs lettered in his beautifully perfect printing.

John took great pride in his career and played an instrumental role in designing asphalt mixtures used by the state highway system. He traveled the state inspecting projects in his mobile lab and was known for his tenacity for holding highway contractors to incredibly high quality standards.

Later in his career he would be called upon by engineering professors to teach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where he taught short courses on highway material design and lectured at other UW campuses throughout the state. This role suited him perfectly as he loved teaching, talking and passing along his passion, wisdom and wit to younger generations. He was well respected by his colleagues for his expertise in asphalt mix design. John cherished the many friendships he developed during his distinguished career.

For years John was a devoted bell ringer for the Salvation Army and with his Santa cap and convincing Santa physique, many children were convinced as they pulled on his heavy white beard, that he was indeed Santa Clause.

After retirement, John became more deeply involved in volunteer work. John served as a Eucharistic Minister at UW and Meriter Hospitals and St. Mary’s Care Center. He would spend countless hours tending to the spiritual needs of patients and took particular interest in the terminally ill and their family members, with some ultimately asking John to deliver the eulogy upon the passing of a loved one.

John was a passionate advocate for the American Red Cross, volunteering both as a donor of blood and platelets and serving on committees to encourage and organize critically needed platelet donations.

John’s interests, talents and knowledge were extraordinarily broad, with a particular passion for his Catholic faith, history, politics, finance and medicine. He was a voracious reader of anything non-fiction and had an amazing ability to retain information. His love of nature and the outdoors was forged early on. His kids have fond memories of eight family members crammed in a non-air conditioned station wagon traveling the country on action packed summer camping adventures . John leaves behind a wonderful cabin he helped build on Beaver Lake, north of Boulder Junction, where his wife and children will cherish the many memories and stories shared there as a family over the past 40 years.

John is survived by his wife Suzanne “Sue” of nearly 59 years, and their six children: David (Jackie Cary-Pope) Pope , Jean Pope, Sara Pope (Allen Herget), Dan (Terri) Pope, Jerry Pope (Cathy Childers) and Karen (Geoffrey) Sandler, 11 Grandchildren: Gabriel, Marie, Jason, Sarah, Sean, Emily, Maria, John, Madeline, Ryan and Jenna and one great-grandchild, Jackson , as well as many nephews. He is further survived by his brother Jim (Sue) Pope.

John was preceded in death by his father Floyd, mother Dorothy, brothers Larry and Steve and niece Michelle.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 12 Noon on Monday, September 19th, 2016 at OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE CATHOLIC CHURCH, 401 S. Owen Drive, Madison, with Father Bill Nolan presiding. Visitation will be held from 10 am until the time of Mass. Burial will follow at Resurrection Cemetery.

The Family would like to thank the many doctors, nurses and healthcare providers, whose compassion gave John great comfort. They would like to especially thank family doctor, Dr. James Shropshire, who John considered a friend, for his many years of compassionate care. They would also like to thank Fr. Bill Nolan who has given the family much love and support during John’s final days.

One of the most important missions in John’s life was to do all he could to see that no child went to bed hungry. His guiding principal in life was a quote by Saint Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel every day; if necessary, use words.”

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating blood or platelets or making a financial contribution to John’s favorite service organizations: the Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, 2802 Dairy Drive, Madison, WI 53718 or the Boulder Junction Food Pantry, 10445 Main St., Boulder Junction, WI 54512..

We love you so much, Dad. You were our unyielding rock and we are so fortunate to have had your steadfast love, devotion and wisdom to guide our lives.