John C. Stannard

February 18, 1947 – July 28, 2021

John was born February 18, 1947, in Scottsbluff, NE to Donald and Louise Stannard.  John was the second of his parent’s children.  He enjoyed spending much time on his grandparents’ farm in the Mitchell Valley while he was growing up.  John attended and graduated from Scottsbluff High School in 1965 and served his country in the Army National Guard attending Officer Candidate School in Ashland, NE.  He was discharged as a First Lieutenant, then attended the Herdsman’s Institute in Kansas City, Mo.  He followed his dream of working on registered cattle ranches from Nebraska to New York.

In 1968, he married Connie (Raymer) and to the marriage a daughter, Shelia was born.  The family lived on several ranches, spending many years at Cox Herefords in Mullen, NE, and Iodence Hereford Ranch in Hemingford, NE.  Later in the 1980s, John decided to continue his education at Chadron State College.  He studied agricultural business, and after graduation, moved his family to Saint Francis, Kansas, where he began his career with Kansas State University as a County Extension Agent for Agriculture and 4-H from 1989 until 1996 when he transferred to Russell County, Kansas. He retired from a 24-year career with Extension in 2013.  While in Russell, he and Connie enjoyed their new sport of fishing in central Kansas.  He became a leader and promoter of the 4-H Sportfishing Program in Kansas.

Besides mentoring young 4-H members with livestock projects, his greatest joy was working with his protégé and daughter Shelia Ann.  John, Connie and Shelia built a flock of registered Hampshire and Dorset ewes and for many years exhibited and sold them at auction.   John and Connie moved to Mount Pulaski, IL in 2014, to be closer to family.

John is survived by his wife Connie, daughter and son-in-law, Shelia and StanLee Grobosky and daughter Lily Kay of Alexis, IL, and sister, Barbara Ann Robek of Anchorage, Alaska, along with a host of friends.

Memorial contributions can be made in John’s honor to the Russell County

4-H Development Fund or the Nebraska Children’s Home.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date in Russell, KS. 

Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Mount Pulaski, IL, is in charge of arrangements.