John Minor Sangster

  John M. Sangster or “Jack” as he was known by many, 83, of Las Vegas, returned to Heaven on November 15, 2013 where he joined his beloved wife Helga.  He was born March 2, 1930, in Washington DC.  In 1951 he enlisted in the US Marine Corps where he served for 1 year.  He then joined the US Air Force where he became a small arms expert while serving as a pistol instructor and served his country honorably as a food service supervisor and chef for 20 years and 1 month before retiring as a Staff Sergeant in April 1972.  During his time in the USAF he served in Turkey, Iceland, Greece, Vietnam and Germany (where he discovered his love for refurbishing old antique clocks), just to name a few.  While in Munich, Germany he met and married his sweetheart Helga Sangster on August 25, 1956.  They moved to Las Vegas to raise their family in 1965 and had resided here since.  They spent 51 beautiful years together. He was preceded in death by his wife, Helga; grandson, Kevith Sangster; parents, Charles Randolph Sangster and Dorothy Hoge Ritter; and sister, Jean.  John is survived by his 3 children; son, Charles; daughter and son-in-law, Sonja and Joel Longoria, son and daughter-in-law, David and Amber; 5 grandchildren, Aaron and wife, Tawni, Jennifer, Stefanie, Jonathan and Charlie; 10 great-grandchildren, Alyssa, Jayden, Elizabeth, Ryan, Mackenzie, Nicholas, Aidan, Jordan, Mikayla and Keegan; sister, Kathy Reiner; nephew, Russell Ricketts; his longtime family friends, Cindy and Tom Goodrich; and all his friends at the senior center where he discovered his passion for playing pool in his later years of his life.  He had many friends and family who loved him dearly and will be deeply missed by all.  Services will be at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, December 5, 2013, at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 1900 Buchanan Blvd. in Boulder City.