John R. Stanesic, D.D.S

Dr. John R. Stanesic passed away suddenly on February 21, 2013 at Manhattan Mercy Hospital. He was 81.

John Richard Stanesic was born August 5, 1931 in Omaha, NE, to John and Mary Stanesic. After graduating from Omaha's South High School, he attended Creighton University and completed Creighton's Master Academy of General Dentistry. A five year stint in the United States Army would bring the young doctor to the Fort Riley-Junction City, Kansas area where he created a thriving dental practice and a large, loving family.

He married Joenne Flynn in August of 1953. They had five children, Beth, Teri, Edward, Corey, and Matthew.

Known to just about everyone as "Doc," John was a member of the American Dental Association and a Lifetime Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry. John was long a pillar of the Junction City community, serving on the Junction City Public School Board, the Geary Community Hospital board, and as a member of the Junction City Chamber of Commerce. He was long active in the Knights of Columbus, the Elks Club, and the Junction City Booster Club. He was a fixture at Junction City Senior High School athletic games and events. And he was a deeply involved and faithful member of St. Xavier Catholic Church.

John's interests were many and eclectic. He was an expert Ham Radio operator. To his family and friends, the radio tower behind his house on Meadow Lane was almost as iconic as the Junction City water tower just beyond it. John was a frequent competitor in international radio competitions, and from his basement on a hill on the plains of Kansas, he routinely won the contests by making the most international contacts, once even making contact with the International Space Station. The Stanesic house is a museum of his ingenuity, filled with the brilliant conveniences and work-arounds that were constantly tumbling from John's effervescent mind.

The same hands that gave such loving and precise care to the mouths and teeth of so many were also extremely talented in the arts. John created beautiful works of stained glass, and his jewelry creations and silversmith work led to a very robust and popular following at art shows and jewelry sales not only in Kansas but in his and Joenne's frequent travels to Arizona and south Texas.

An ardent boater and fisherman, John loved outdoor adventure travel to Alaska, Canada, Oklahoma and Texas. A Midwesterner through and through, John's perfect day would include a crisp walk through a Kansas field, faithful dogs leading the way, shotgun at the ready, chasing pheasant and quail. His converted school bus was a common sight at Milford Lake. His years of fatherhood meant a long string of endless ski runs, campfires and fish-fries.

A member of Junction City Country Club, John also had a long love affair with tennis and golf. But the abiding love affair of John's life was for his wife, Joenne. In 60 years of marriage, the Stanesic house was filled with love, laughter, and (always) children -- first their own, then the friends of their own, then grandchildren, and then great grandchildren. It was also filled with their creations and passions -- John's glass and silver, and Joenne's hand-hooked rugs and antiques.

John was preceded in death by his parents and by his daughter, Teri. He is survived by his wife Joenne of Junction City, KS, his sister and brother-in-law Mary Lou and Steve Cavlovic of Omaha, NE, his children, Beth Lull, Edward Stanesic, Corey Scillian and Matthew Stanesic, sons-in-law Dennis Lull, Steve Brown, and Devin Scillian, daughter-in-law Cindi Stanesic, 14 grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at St. Xavier Catholic Church in Junction City on March 4 at 11 AM. John's ashes will be interred at St. Mary's Cemetery in Junction City. It was John's wish that any contributions in his memory be given to the St. Xavier Capital Fund.