John Walter York

In spite of the fact he could no longer drive, he continued working until shortly before his death and considered his life as one well-lived. He was born March 31, 1919, in Wabash County, to Andrew Thomas “A.T.” and Nettie M. Webb York. On March 30, 1941, he and Virginia Pike were married at the home of her parents, D.A. and Eva Pike. Virginia preceded him in death on Dec. 4, 2000. He graduated from Butler Township High School, Miami County, in 1937 as class valedictorian and entered Purdue University that fall. He left Purdue at the end of his freshman year and enrolled in Manchester College’s School of Music in 1939. In 1940, he left college to draft house plans for D.A. Pike in Akron. The couple moved to California in 1941 where John worked at Lockheed Aircraft as an engineer until he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 and eventually sent to Japan where he served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. After his discharge in 1946, he bought a sawmill in Kenton, Ohio, that he described as the first sawmill he ever saw. He quit the saw mill in 1959 after, in his words, “The union took all of my money to pay false back wages and fines.” He worked for another company for two years before his sister-in-law, Helen Utter, asked him to work for Pike Lumber Company. He and his family moved to Akron in 1961 and joined the Akron United Methodist Church, where John taught Sunday school and sang in the choir, and his wife Virginia played the organ. John was also a lay speaker for the United Methodist Church. He also was a longtime member of the Akron Lions Club. He left Pike in 1979 and pursued other lines of work, including developing computer programs with his son, Douglas, that were sold to other lumber companies. He served as Akron clerk-treasurer in the 1990s. At the dinner following his wife’s death, John Brown, now president of Pike Lumber Co., asked him to return to Pike Lumber Company as a salesman. He continued to do this, working from his home, until he became incapacitated. Surviving are a daughter, Pamela Melcher, Akron; a grandson, Dana York, Fort Wayne; and a daughter-in-law, Linda Crockett York, Fort Wayne; a brother, Eldon (and spouse Phyllis) York, Peru; two great-grandchildren; and two nieces, Karen Shriver, Akron, and Kim Graham, Peachtree City, Ga. He was preceded in death by his son, Douglas York, on July 13, 2005. Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday with Pastors Mimi Ault and Kent B. Harting officiating. A dinner will be held following the service at the Akron United Methodist Church. Following the dinner there will be graveside services. Burial will be at Santa Fe Cemetery, Santa Fe (Miami County) Indiana. Calling is from 10 to 11 a.m. Monday at Akron United Methodist Church, Akron. ***** Memorials may be made to Akron United Methodist Church Memorial Fund. Condolences may be sent via www.hartzlerfuneralservices.com