Mark commented many times how much he enjoyed staying up late talking to John.

I would like to take this moment to let you see my dad through my eyes. The best word I can use to capture his image is superhero. As a young boy, I thought he was so tall and strong. He could fix anything. I watched him build any things in life. He didn’t always do it the right way, but in the end he always got the job done. To this day, I love building things and tinkering around in my garage and just like him, it’s not always right, but I get it done.

My dad always protected me through all the bruises, scrapes, stitches, countless bike wrecks and several car accidents. He was always there for me. As most of you know, I was not the easiest child to raise, but he accepted the challenge; and oh what a challenge it was! From purposely breaking the lawnmower so I didn’t have to mow the lawn; to all calls home from the principal; to rescuing me from the Kansas City, Kansas tough man contest. There were many more challenges we faces, however, we will have to discuss those outside of church.

Another challenge I faced in life was after I graduated high school. I was lost and I honestly did not know what direction to in life. I told my dad maybe I should join the military. My dad quickly approached me with an idea. He said, ”Hey Brad, why don’t you and I join the electrical apprenticeship program together?” We ended up joining and my dad stuck it out for a year with me while he was working a full-time job. When we were halfway done with the program, he saw that I had the passion and drive to survive the program on my own. He came to me and said, “Brad, I don’t really think this electrical stuff is for me, but I believe you can finish this out yourself.” That’s when I realized he only joined to motivate me. I graduated from the program on my own with the encouragement of my dad and I have made it my career for the last 26 years. This is why I call my dad a superhero!

Every day I wake up I realize all the daily things I do that my dad taught me. He taught me how to tie my shoes, brush my teeth, shift gears in my truck, use a tape measure, use power tools (with no safety protection), and most importantly, to remind my family how much I love them.
 
Over the years, we enjoyed so many things together. We went to baseball and football games, we enjoyed all of our family vacations and one of my favorite memories is our fishing trips. I’m pretty sure my dad spent most of his time fixing reels and baiting the hooks than he actually did catching fish.

My dad was a little bit different than the kind of superhero you see on TV. Even though he fit the image of a big, tall, strong man; he was also soft, gentle and kind with a heart of gold. There isn’t a Hallmark card that didn’t bring him to tears. My mom was everything to my dad. He would move mountains for her and he loved her unconditionally. He taught me to love my wife and kids the way he loved mom and us. 

Last, but not least, he was the best poppy. I am up for the challenge to be just like him. Dad, thank you for everything. I know that even though you are not physically with us, you will be with us every day. We will take good care of mom. It is time for my superhero to fly home. I will see you again.

Bradley Easley


 Good afternoon, my name is William Easley and I am the oldest son of John & Sharon Easley. On behalf of my entire family I want to thank you for being here to celebrate the life of my dad, John Earl Easley. I want to also extend our gratitude to the nurses of Kansas City Hospice. Their level of compassion and care was a blessing in an otherwise difficult and heartbreaking process. They have our admiration. I also want to thank Pastor Todd. Todd was with us when Dad had his stomach cancer operation all those years ago and we feel equally fortunate that Todd could be there near the end, after returning from his own travels, to lead us in prayer. We all are also thankful Todd could be here today to help us say farewell to Dad on his final journey.

We live our lives, most of the time unaware of the narrative of our own story, as we get older, we may reflect on it and we might even find an occasion or two to recite small pieces of it with others willing to listen. Dad's story was 77 years long and included happiness, drama, high drama, suspense, a love story, adventure, comedy and it ended as a tearjerker. It included various locations in the United States, it had natural disasters, pyrotechnics, fires, car wrecks, headlines, a couple of lives saved, a couple of poorly executed fights early on and a near fight a few years ago that became more of a comedy really, there were injuries and surgeries, love, loss, joy, sadness, lots of laughter, a few tears, and a very moving highly emotional death scene at the end that was wrenching, but also inspirational, and totally fit the narrative of his life in many ways. But most important it was epic, and we were blessed to be in his story.
 
Dad was born May 8th 1942 to Barbara Robitaille Easley of the Wyandotte Nation in Pitcher Oklahoma. He was an "Okie". He and his mom and sisters spent most of the 40's as migrant crop workers with Dad working the fields at a very young age and in and out of more than a dozen elementary schools.  At times they lived out of my grandmother's car but when he was 9 his whole family settled in Kansas City. As you heard he met my mom a few years later. After Dad graduated high school, he joined the Navy which made sense for a 6-foot 6 inch man prone to sea sickness to do with all those short steel doors and low ceilings with steel pipes. Dad joined the navy to see the world, or at least the world from the naval base on the island of Kodiak Alaska. He returned home to marry my mom in March of 63 and he returned in May to attend my mom's high school graduation, and as you learned, they celebrated for 30 days. I can confirm this because I was born on February 27th of 1964. Trust me the math checks out.

One month later, on March 27th Good Friday, the largest earthquake in North American history struck Alaska including Kodiak. The quake devastated the island and severely damaged the naval base. It's important to remember this was 17 months removed from the Cuban Missile Crisis and in the heart of the Cold War. The Soviet Union wasn't that far away. We know this because we could see Russia from
the front porch of our trailer. Dad left his post at the naval base to search for my mom and I... which was fortunate because a short time later the island was hit by tsunami that did more damage than the earthquake. The island was in lock down and there was no communication. The base was under radio silence since no one wanted the Soviets to know the extent of the damage. Back home no one knew if we were alive or dead.  Initial reports were the island was gone.  It took two weeks and the use of ham radios before word reached Kansas City we were safe. During that time Dad was called upon to work search and rescue which · was done mostly at sea because of the tsunami. For the next several weeks there was a lot of celebrating to be alive. I know this because my sister Kim was born February 2nd, 1965. Dad was redeployed in 1966 to San Diego California. Both were happy to leave Alaska and in their joy they celebrated a lot. We know this because my sister Chris was born February 21st 1967. I think you are getting a sense of a seasonal pattern. My brother Brad broke the streak with an October birthday which was great because we had some awesome Halloween birthday parties.

To know Dad you had to know all the names he had... to Mom he was Hon or Babe, to myself, Kim, Chris & Brad when we were very young he was Daddy and at some point he became Dad, he was Uncle John to all my cousins, he was Big John to the men he supervised at both'Lady Baltimore and Associated Grocers. To all the neighborhood kids and the boys in my Boy Scout Troop he was Mr. Easley, or better yet, He Who Must Not Be Messed With. When you got the arched brow and the frown he looked menacing and as a kid you knew your best option was to run. As we all learned though, Dad was a huge softy and became the biggest pushover when it came to his grandchildren. Which frankly was aggravating and unhelpful.

Mom and Dad owned and operated a number of businesses the last 45 years but I think the business my dad enjoyed the most was the floral shop my mom operated called Silks and Bloom on 103rd and Wornall. The shop was very successful, artd Dad handled most of the deliveries and supported Mom in every aspect of the business including the long hours. They decided to close the shop to care for my grandfather, but it still resonates within our family because of all the memories we created during that time. My brother Brad is operating a small business that if my dad had not fallen ill he would be right there ready to help and he'd be so excited about doing it with Brad. Brad's business is called Rough & Rigid and he makes these fantastic fire pits out of up cycled material.
He just sold one to Patrick Mahomes and got him to pose for a picture with it. Dad would be over the moon right now and if he hadn't been so sick when Brad got it started, I'm sure he would have been pestering him all the time with ideas. What Brad is doing is exactly the kind of business Dad would have loved! So in the John Easley entrepreneurial spirit... Our funeral special, today and today only if you want to buy you very own fire pit and use promo code LOVEJOHN you will get 20% off. I'm just kidding.  But Brad might give you a 10% discount.  Just kidding. In all seriousness Dad would be very proud of Brad. Laughter was an important part of our lives growing up and nothing was better than hearing my mom and dad laugh. At any family gathering is was great when we could get everyone laughing at an old story or while reminiscing.

One story, years ago I took Dad and my kids fishing in Southern Missouri at Bennett Springs. If you fished with Dad you had to get up before the sun rose and you had to stop for breakfast.  On our drive down we stopped at Peggy's on Highway 13 and Dad ordered a huge plate of Biscuits and Sausage Gravy with a side of bacon and buttered toast. He ate it all. We arrived in Bennett Springs and fished with the usual Easley success... we caught nothing. By lunch the kids were hungry, so we found a burger joint called Hillbilly Burgers. And yes, it was run by Hillbillies. Well apparently they weren't big believers on using clean fryers or grease. The fries were served in a paper bag with grease streaming at the bottom and were the darkest brown. The burgers were just as greasy and made the buns soggy. I threw mine and the kids away. Dad ate it all. We fished some more that afternoon with the same outcome. After packing it up for the day we went to dinner at a local AppleBee's and Dad ordered Baby Back Ribs Mashed Potatoes with gravy and buttered rolls. We had strawberry short cake for dessert. He ate all of it. We returned to our cabin for the night and I went ahead and built a fire so the kids could roast some marshmallows. Dad was reluctant at first but eventually he roasted a single Stay Puff marshmallow to a golden brown and ate it. About a half hour later he starts grimacing, holding his stomach and turns to me and says "Damn William, that marshmallow has given me the worst case of indigestion of ever had!"

Very few of us get to witness in our lives what true human spirit looks like. That indomitable will to live. Dad had it. In his long fight he used every resource his body and spirit had to give. He literally used himself up. In the end there was so very little left. He was gone. But we will never forget him. Quoting an unknown author "A father is neither an anchor to hold us back, nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way."

 John Easley showed us the way. 
Love you Dad and I miss you already.

I would like to reflect on a small portion of how John and I met which started a love story that can't be captured in few words.
An Open Letter in Remembrance of my husband John Easley 
Written by Sharon, Soulmate

I've known John, my high school sweetheart,  my beloved husband and HERO for 60 years. The Teddy Bears sang "To know him is to love him." 

Well to know John was to love him. My life changed forever in 8th grade at Westport High School when a 6 foot 6 inch freshman walked across the school gym. It was my first school dance and I was with a cute boy whose name I have forgotten when this tall lanky disheveled boy named John Easley tapped him on the shoulder and said, "This
is my girl" and for the rest of the evening it was true. John was polite and charming but he wasn't a good dancer and I couldn't
lead while I danced on my tip toes. Every day that followed John appeared unexpectedly to hold my books and walk me to class. He eventually took that big leap and walked me home. John was so charming and funny, yet a distraction, but he was persistent and incredibly patient.

Years later, upon reflection, I realized John rescued me from bad situations because he always knew when I needed help. My senior year, after John had already graduated and enlisted in the Navy, I realized he was the answer to a prayer. I prayed for a rich, tall, dark, and handsome man. God gave me three out of four which was more than enough for me. 

December of my senior year John was on leave when he proposed. We were married 3 months later and enjoyed a two day honeymoon before he was due back for duty. John again surprised me when he showed up to my high school graduation. He was on a 30 day leave so we tried to make up for all the months we had lost together. John's best friend had a studio apartment that we rented for 30 days. We weren't accustomed to gas stoves and I repeatedly tried to light it but couldn't. I asked John for help and he said' "Yes, is the gas turned off?" I told him yes. He put his head near the pilot light
and lit the match. The explosion that followed sent him flying across the living room. "I thought you told me you turned the
gas off?" he moaned. I couldn't tell him in the moment that his eyebrows and lashes were gone! 

This was just the first of many times John dodged death. I only contributed to three near death experiences. That is love! Electrocution, fire, floods, car accidents, natural disasters, wild animal encounters and his kids couldn't kill him. He was my superman (My Hero). Who else would persevere so well when facing all the adversity life gave him? 

His final battle with aphasia was his ultimate challenge and proof that an incurable disease couldn't stop him. Despite the short time his doctors gave him, he squeezed more life out of his body then any of us thought possible. One year became two, two years became five, five years became eight and John was still doggedly independent. 

John was an avid coffee drinker and no matter how sick or injured he managed to go to the kitchen to brew a pot. He would take help but reluctantly, he would use a wheel chair but only if he drove, and he controlled the television remote. He would watch anything as long it was a western or the Chiefs. And he would eat anything as long as it was steak. And he never lost his ability to say in his sign language "I love you". 

Homeless, fatherless, and penniless early in life did nothing to keep him from being the husband, father, grandfather, uncle or
friend that we all needed. The strength and resolve he showed me the last 10 years is an inspiration and lesson in grace. I feel
the lord knew that we needed a long goodbye which allowed us to express our love for each other over those years. God needed his heroism more than I now and called him home. Upon passing … John knew that I'm still his girl.

To the family and friends grieving,
I am deeply sorry for the passing of your loved one. Please remember that you are not alone, God is always here for you especially in these difficult times. "The eyes of Jehovah are on the righteous, And his ears listen to their cry for help" Psalm 34:15

OBITUARY

John Earl Easley

May 8, 1942 – June 22, 2019

McGilley Memorial Chapel-Midtown

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