JOHN HARMON

A Memorial Funeral Mass for John Harmon, 84, of Wagner was held Friday, September 2 at St John Catholic Church in Wagner. Internment was in St John’s Catholic Cemetery, rural Wagner, with military honors. Peters Funeral Home in Wagner was in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your local food pantry.

John Oscar Harmon was born August 4, 1938 to Oscar and Frances (Morrison) Harmon in Great Falls, MT. He was the second son of four. He died Saturday, August 27, 2022 at the Community Memorial Hospital in Wagner.

John graduated from Billings High School and joined the US Army. He served in Germany in the medical corp for 3 1/2 years. Upon his return to the US, he completed his education earning a BA in Medical Technology at the University of Montana.

While earning his degree, he met and married the love of his life, Janet West. To this union, four daughters and a son were born.

John’s commitment to the medical profession started in Montana where he worked at several clinics before joining the Civil Service, which ultimately led him and his family to Wagner in 1976. John worked for the Indian Health Service until his retirement.

Throughout his life, his faith was strong and he was a committed member of St. John’s Catholic Church, where he served on many committees, was a Eucharistic minister and was a boisterous voice in the choir.

John was an avid gardener and he loved to share his harvest with the neighbors and his family. He enjoyed hanging bags of vegetables on doors playing Summer Santa. He enjoyed running errands, mainly as an excuse to socialize and check in with the community. At the drop of a hat, he’d be off in his fedora. Above all, he loved spending time outdoors with his family-camping, fishing, hunting and most recently celebrating milestones like his and Janet’s 60th wedding anniversary last September.

Thankful for having shared his life are his wife Janet of Wagner; daughters: Juli Rueschenberg of Wagner, Lisa (Mike) Cihak of Dante, Christi Harmon (Brian) of Alexandria, VA, Becky (Randy) Hanzen of Sioux Falls and son John (Dena) Harmon of Spencer, NE; 14 grandchildren; 11 great grandchildren; two brothers: David (Gloria) Harmon and Tom (Lucy) Harmon, all of Billings, MT; sister-in-law Roberta (Bob) Ehli of Billings, MT and brother-in-law Bob (Marion) West of Greybull, WY.

John was preceded in death by his parents, Oscar and Frances Harmon, brother Lonnie Harmon and son-in-law Pat Rueschenberg.