John Denniston Stoneking, 81, of Kansas City, passed away on July12, 2023. At the time of his passing his loving wife, Jeri, was at his side, providing strength and care as she has through their 42 years of marriage, particularly while he lived courageously with the challenges of Progressive Multiple Sclerosis since 1984.
Rev. Stoneking was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Walter and Lora Bell Stoneking. The family attended United Methodist churches in Nebraska, Texas, and Oklahoma as they relocated for his father’s work. The family settled in Oklahoma City where John graduated from Northwest Classen High School in 1959. He went on to Oklahoma State University graduating in 1963. At OSU John served as an officer in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and campus ministry. John said he couldn’t remember a time when the idea to pursue ministry as a vocation wasn’t with him.
A summer internship working in the inner city in Albany, New York, after his sophomore year solidified his direction. While at OSU he met and later married Rosanne Gill (divorced in 1976). That union gave them two daughters, Anne Holmes of Kansas City and Kristin Stoneking of Davis/San Francisco, California.
Upon graduation, John attended Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, graduating in 1966. He was ordained a Deacon in the Oklahoma Annual Conference of the UMC in 1965 and an Elder in the Kansas East Conference of the UMC in 1968. He remained a proud member of the forward thinking Kansas East Conference his entire career.
John served churches beginning as an Associate Pastor at First UMC, Manhattan, KS (1966-68).From there he served as Senior Pastor of Horton UMC, Horton, KS (1968-72); Rosedale UMC, Kansas City, KS (1972-75); Urban Ministries Coordinator/Pastor Rosedale UMC (1975-78): Lenexa UMC, Lenexa, KS (1978-84), First UMC, Manhattan, KS (1984-92); Topeka District Superintendent (1992-97), and Highland Park UMC, Topeka, KS (1997-2002).
John found every appointment unique and with ministry that spoke to him. He especially found his appointment to urban ministry in Rosedale to be a call to the right place at the right time. As pastor of the Rosedale UMC the Methodists partnered with the Mennonite and Disciples of Christ congregations founding the Rosedale Sharing Community, an ecumenical partnership devoted to serving the community. Together they acted to save a closed school site across from the church from becoming a toxic landfill. Whitmore Park, a playground for neighborhood children, still stands to this day . Serving as Urban Ministries Ccoordinator in Rosedale he organized other UMCs in Kansas City, Kansas to address issues related to poverty, racial and gender justice, and the war in Vietnam. In 1975 he was named Man of the Year by the Rosedale Business Association.
In 1980 John was introduced by mutual friends to Jeri (née Stice) who would become his soulmate and companion for the next 43 years. They were married at Lenexa United Methodist Church in 1981 when he also welcomed his third daughter Nicole Stoneking, of Kansas City, into his life.
Among the many professional and civic positions he held during his career, John served five times as a delegate to the United Methodist global decision making body and was chair of the Southcentral Jurisdictional Conference on Finance and Administration for eight years. In 1985 he was asked by the Bishop to chair a task force to rescue the Aldersgate Village senior community in Topeka from bankruptcy. His leadership helped set Aldersgate on stable ground and is a thriving community today. He served on several other boards in the Kansas East Conference and also served on the National Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church for eight years and as Trustee for Baker University. Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club, Kansas City Area Agency on Aging,, Crosslines Homes , Chamber of Commerce , Argentine Youth Services, and the Kansas City Chapter of the National Foundation for Sudden Infant Death are among his service to the community beyond the church. In 1988 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Baker University.
Taking disability retirement in 2002 John and Jeri moved to Kansas City where John enjoyed reading, playing bridge, the Royals, Chiefs, and K-State Wildcats, and social engagements with friends and family. Always lovers of travel and in spite of John’s continuing progression of MS, he and Jeri still loved a road trip and took many around the country and especially to California to visit daughter Kristin and family. In retirement John also joined the MS Achievement Center at KU. The participants, staff and activities of this therapy program became of significant importance to John and he attended weekly for over a decade.
John lived a life of purpose, love, and grace, never complaining about the disease that slowly took away so much of his physical abilities. Within two weeks of his passing he and Jeri had expressed their love for each other and John said to her “I’m a lucky man!” Those of us who knew and loved him say, ‘We were the lucky ones!’
John is survived by his loving wife, Jeri, sister Kathy Coit (Randy), sister-in-law Sandy Holt, and several nieces and nephews. He will be forever remembered as a gentle guiding presence by his beloved daughters, Anne Holmes, Kristin (Elizabeth Campi), and Nicole (Stefanie) and by hisadored grandchildren John Campi, Genevieve Holmes, Ava Holmes, and Paloma Campi.
A memorial service will be held August 5 at 2pm at Lenexa United Methodist Church, 9138 Caenan Lake Road, Lenexa, Kansas with reception to follow. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions are requested to: MS Achievement Center at KU, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., MS 2012, Kansas City, KS 66160