John D. Spangler

John David Spangler was born November 18, 1936 in Lincoln, Nebraska and passed away March 30, 2020 peacefully at home. He was born the son of Flora Ross and Don Harvey Spangler. He moved to Atwater, Minnesota at an early age and spent a lot of time assisting his dad, who was a rural veterinarian. After graduation from high school in Atwater, John attended Kansas State University, where his mother and father had met and obtained degrees. Rather than veterinary medicine, John developed a strong passion for understanding how the world works through the study of physics. He also found another passion; his soon to be wife, Margaret Anne Kirkendall. John and Margaret married June 2, 1958 at the chapel on the K-State campus. After John’s graduation, John and Margaret moved to Durham, North Carolina, where John pursued a doctorate in Physics at Duke University, and Margaret gave birth to their firstborn, Elizabeth Anne. After finishing his doctorate, John entered into the Army after gaining a commission through the ROTC program while at K-State. While stationed at Fort Devens in Massachusetts his daughters Anne Marie and Virginia Louise were born. Once discharged from the military, John started his academic career at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where his daughter Kathryn Agnes was born. Within a few years he found his way back to Kansas State University. He served on the physic faculty at K-State from 1965 until 1985, achieving the rank of full professor. Shortly after moving back to Manhattan, John’s son, David Bruce, was born. John enjoyed teaching physics, and as his daughter Anne can attest he was quite good at it, as she had the opportunity to take one of his classes. For several years John was a track official for K-State track teams, involved with Boy Scout troops through his son David, and enjoyed camping and canoeing trips with friends often going back to Minnesota and into Canada. He was an avid jogger and also involved with the Manhattan Track Club. In 1985, John and Margaret moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where John taught at St Norbert College until 1998. In 1998, John and Margaret moved back to Manhattan, Kansas as their retirement home. Although retired, John spent several years continuing to teach classes at K-State, on an as-need basis, while continuing his research in theoretical physics in collaboration with campus faculty. John’s wife, Margaret, passed away in 2002, which left John with a great sorrow and hole in his life. John admitted to his children that Margaret had taken care of everything for him, not only the house, cooking, and shopping, but the car, taxes, etc. If it didn’t deal with theoretical physics, she took care of it. His children remember their dad only really shopping once a year for Mom’s Christmas and birthday gifts, which were both in December. This was almost always done with a daughter or two in tow with a wish list from Mom and where we could find each item. John did learn to take care of himself after Margaret’s passing. He was never a good cook, but learned how to use his George Forman Grill, the toaster oven, the microwave, and the coffee pot. To those who knew John, he drank coffee as his preferred beverage any time of day or night, often heating cold coffee up in the microwave. His favorite foods were pizza, chocolate-chip cookies and homegrown tomatoes. He went through the Master Gardener program to learn how to grow tomatoes and was known to share his extras. As hobbies, he enjoyed stamp collecting, astronomy and reading, particularly science fiction. As part of a Bible Study class, John was once asked what he thought heaven might be like, and he responded that he hoped it had a very large library. He loved books and often had several he was reading at the same time of a variety of genres. He was very involved with the First United Methodist Church as a volunteer serving at times as an usher, with grief share, Bread Basket and other committees. He volunteered with the Boy Scout Troop, from which he was once awarded “Young” Scouter of the Year (a mistake he loved and would not give back). John was also very proud of being a Mason having served in Manhattan as past Grand Master and Lodge secretary, a position he held for many years. He spoke fondly of his friendships with many of his Masonic brothers and would often take family with him to Lodge breakfasts and picnics. If not his human family, he might have a dog in tow. Over the years John adopted a series of older dogs from the Humane Society, giving each a loving home and companionship. He is preceded in death by his parents, wife, and son David. He is survived by his daughters Elizabeth Spangler (Auburn, AL), Anne McFarland and her husband Joe (Stephenville, TX), Virginia Love and her husband Chris (Lawrence, KS) and Kathryn Spangler (DeBary, FL); a sister Nancy Vodraska (Lincoln, NE); grandchildren, Henry, Simon, Helen, Ian, Miles and Megan; one great-granddaughter; and many other relatives and friends. The family will particularly miss his “bear hugs” when we came to visit. A Memorial Service will be held at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the First United Methodist Church, the Boy Scouts of American, the Riley County Humane Society, or the T. Russell Reitz Animal Shelter.