(The following as related to Lynn Ware)
"He shared several stories, all of which I was so interested in.  He told me of when Collins bought the lumber yard and built the motel in 1921, the names of his first three school teachers, and about the dirty 30's.  He knew of only one living classmate, Anna Flurkie of Idalia.  My favorite story was how a man named Fuller traded land for a grocery store.  Ed Dischner's dad, Tony, made that trade.
     John passed away at the Kit Carson County hospital on Aug. 25, 1986 at the age of 89 years.  He left his wife Edith of the home, his daughter Della, 6 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.

The following is a story of his life and times.
    "In 1919, we had a good corn crop.  Corn was a good price but the people held their corn for a better price, corn went down to 21 cents and in 1920 some people burned ear corn all winter and said it was cheaper than coal.  I bought the rent share from one one of my neighbors for 21 cents a bushel and then corn went up to a fair price again.  Then the dirty 30's came.  It was so dry you couldn't raise a thing.  There was so much dust in the air you had to have a light in the house to see.  I had a windmill in Section 21 and I went out to turn the mill on and it wouldn't run, so my brother, Jake, and I went and pulled the pipe and the cylinder was full of mud.  There was a drift of dirt in the front of my grainery seven feet high.  It took me a half day with a team and scraper so I could get the door open.
At that time the government came and bought cows, anything that was in good shape they shipped out but what was a little thin, they shot them.  They set a day for people to bring the cattle to town.  I saw them get up on a truck and shoot them right in the truck.  I sold yearling steers and heifers for 2 cents a pound.  In those days some people picked cow chips to burn and in 1938 things got better and it was good until 1952 and '53.  In 1953 it was so dry we didn't have any grass so I sold all of my cattle but 20 head.  I had to start again.  Then people started to put down wells and you all know how it is now.  In 1963 I retired, sold my cattle, rented my farm and moved to town.  Been here 20 years now and all I do is work a little in the yard and garden, sit in my rocking chair and sometimes think of the past.
    It was in 1921 the Equity built the gas station across the street and later they sold propane.  I bought my first tank in 1947 and the boys that managed it were Bob Collins, Lyle Hooper, Delbert Kordes and Larry Dasenbrock.  Larry was there for a long time.  In the 20's the Equity built a house for the manager.  It is the house that Rev.  Bloomer lives in now.  In 1930 they sold the house to my dad for $2,800 and in 1943 he sold it to the Church of God.  In 1947 I built a new house and sold the little house to Terry Atkins.  He sold it to Jack McConner.  Terry built some rooms on it.  It is the house Mrs. McConnell lived in.
     In the early days we had floods.  In 1925 there was a cloud burst on Spring Creek and the water was backed up around the railroad bridge.  A train from the east went across.  The engine, coal car and baggage car got across and the bridge collapsed and two pullman cars went into the water.  Several people drowned.  One girl from New York.  Her mother put up a reward of $500 to anyone who found her.  Fred Meyers and the dreyman by the name of Turner found her about 12 miles north.  Then in 1935 was the big flood on the river.  Some of the people on the river said that it rained 18 inches.  I had 8 inches at my place and a man and his wife were drowned.  Rosser Davis found the man at his place and they never found the woman.
    Then in 1932-33 and '34 it was so dry nothing would grow and the jack rabbits were so thick they would eat anything that came up. Then they started the rabbit drives.  They made a large pen with a wing on two sides and the people could start several miles away.  People came from towns to help sometimes.  They had over 1000 rabbits in the pen.  Boys with clubs would go in to kill the rabbits.  The men that had charge of the drive sold the rabbits to anyone that had hogs for 10 cents and also sold them to some fur company.
     It makes me think of a story.  There was an elderly man and his wife, lived on a small farm.  They had 1 milk cow and a team of horses and the cow died.  The people went and sympathized and he said it could be worse.  Then one of the horses died, they went again.  He said it could be worse.  Then his wife died and they sympathized again.  The old man said it could have been worse.  Someone said, How could it be worse?  He said, It could have been me.  And that is the way of the past, it could be worse."
     John loved good quality livestock.  He raised. registered Hereford cattle and sold breeding bulls for many years.  His work horses were good animals, large and beautiful.  He worked very hard and established a nice farm north east of Stratton.