John Andrew Pickrell

John Andrew Pickrell, 76, of Manhattan, Kansas, passed away on Wednesday, May 24th, 2017. John was born in Decatur, Illinois on May 8th, 1941, son of John and Carolyn Pickrell. John attended Tri-City High School in Buffalo, Illinois where he was salutatorian of his class. From there, he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) and his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees and was valedictorian of his Veterinary School class. He was a certified member of the American Board of Toxicology. John worked for twenty years as a research scientist at the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he published many technical papers and authored one book. He became a Professor at Kansas State University in 1988 in the Veterinary School where he taught and mentored many undergraduate and graduate students until his retirement. John was a voracious reader, movie watcher, and a thinker of great thoughts. He enjoyed traveling to many destinations, including Hawaii, Alaska, and Canada, with his family. He was the first to engage in deep conversations and to lend his extensive knowledge on any topic. He was loved and appreciated by his family, friends, coworkers and students, and he will be missed. John is survived by his wife of fifty-four years, Bonnie; son, Greg Pickrell and his wife April of Bernalillo, New Mexico; granddaughter, Kayla Wright of Friendswood, Texas; siblings Carolyn Sundberg of Macomb, Illinois, Joe Pickrell and his wife Marilyn of Buffalo, Illinois, Elizabeth Ruddie and her husband Stan of Stevensville, Maryland and Dave Pickrell of Birmingham, Alabama. John was predeceased by his daughter, Debbie Pickrell, his brother Frank Pickrell, and his parents, John and Carolyn Pickrell. At the family’s request, there will be no local services. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, May 30, 2017, with visitation at 10 a.m. and services at 11:00 a.m. at Fullenwider-Park Funeral Home, Mechanicsburg, Illinois. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association at http://honor.americanheart.org/goto/JohnPickrell, over the phone by calling 1-800-242-8721 or by mail to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. 3816 Paysphere Circle. Chicago, IL 60674.