June 20, 1921 - January 13, 2004
In Loving Memory of
John Duncan Strauther
Sunday, January 18, 2004
2:00 PM
First Unitarian–Universalist
Church
4605 Cass Avenue, Detroit,
MI
Rev.
Larry Hutchison, Officiating
John Duncan Strauther was
born June 20, 1921, the fourth of six children born to Jonas L. Strauther and
Willie B. Strauther, in Forrest City, Arkansas.
Alice and Jonas Jr., his two younger siblings, preceded him in death.
The family moved to Detroit in 1923. Jonas Sr. died unexpectedly in 1926 leaving
Willie to raise the family alone through the Great Depression with help from
her sister-in-law Martha Wilson. The
whole family worked together through those difficult times, John delivering newspapers
three times a day from a young age until finishing high school.
John
attended Columbian Elementary and McMichael Intermediate schools. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from
Northwestern High School in 1939. He won
a full tuition scholarship to the University of Michigan, but due to the lack
of money for room and board was obliged to decline the scholarship and enrolled
instead at Wayne University. He studied
as a part-time student, having to work full-time to help support his
family. His education was interrupted
when he was called up by the selective service, and was inducted into the
United States Army in February of 1943.
He was assigned to the Army Air Force, serving 35 months, 29 of which
were served in England and France. He
was honorably discharged in 1945 with the rank of Master Sergeant.
John resumed his education after the war, returning to
college under the G.I. bill, completing his studies while working full-time at
the United States Post Office. He
graduated in 1948 with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. He began work with the Detroit Water Board in
1949, transferring after eight years to the Detroit Health Department as a
senior analytical chemist. During these
years he pursued graduate studies in chemistry and Occupational and
Environmental Health. In 1972 he
headed the laboratory for the Childhood Lead Poisoning Control Project, and in
1979 was appointed the Director of that program. He held that position until his retirement in
1989. He was a contributing author to
the U.S. Public Health Service publication “Methods of Air Sampling and
Analysis”.
In 1958, John married Anna Mae Johnson, whom he met
while working in the Health Department.
They had four children; Allen, Lisa, Gregory and Shelley, and nine
grandchildren; Ciera, Quentin, Cameron, Christa, Christian, Noah, Anya,
Ethan and Michaela.
After 34 years their union was broken with the untimely death of Anna in
1992.
John was an active member and supporter of the First
Unitarian-Universalist Church of Detroit, which he faithfully served in several
leadership positions for over 40 years.
He was also active in leadership positions with the Boy Scouts and
Explorer Scouts of America for more than 25 years. He was the recipient of the District Award of
Merit, The Bronze Big Horn Medal, and the Whitney Young Award for his service
to the scouting movement. He was a
supporter of civic organizations and of the arts. His memberships included the Founders Society
of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Friends of the Detroit Public Library,
Friends of Belle Isle, the Detroit Zoological Society, the Michigan Opera Theater,
and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as a season ticket holder for more than 25
years. He has been a member of Alpha Phi
Alpha Fraternity since 1948.
John Duncan Strauther is survived by three sisters:
Katherine Strauther, Joann Robinson and Ellen Sibley; four children and nine
grandchildren; three daughters-in-law: Bridgett Strauther; Michele Strauther;
and Tawanna Strauther; a son-in-law: Danny McNeal; three brothers-in-law: Louis
Pitts; Charles Johnson; Peyton Johnson; four sisters-in-law: Jane Johnson;
Mildred Harvin; Agatha Pitts and Christina Martin, and many nieces and nephews.
** *
If I
should die and leave you here awhile
Be
not like others who keep long vigil
by
the silent dust and weep
For
my sake turn again to life and smile
Moving
thy heart and trembling hand to do something
to
comfort other hearts than thine
Complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine
Hymnal Reading #580
The
Task of The Religious Community
The central task of the religious community is to
unveil the bonds that bind each to all.
There is a connectedness, a relationship discovered amid the particulars
of our own lives and the lives of others. Once felt, it inspires us to act for
justice. It is the church that assures
us that we are not struggling for justice on our own, but as members of a larger
community. The religious community is
essential, for alone our vision is too narrow to see all that must be seen, and
our strength too limited to do all that must be done. Together, our vision
widens and our strength is renewed.
–Mark Morrison-Reed
ON DEATH
Then Almitra spoke,
saying, We would ask now of Death. And
he said:
You would know the secret of
death.
But how shall you find it unless
you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes
are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light
If you would indeed behold the
spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even
as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and
desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath
the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is
hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the
trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be
laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful
beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of
his trembling?
For what is it to die but to
stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the
breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God
unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the
river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And
when you have reached the mountaintop, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim
your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
–Kahlil
Gibran
*
* *
In lieu of flowers the
family requests that contributions be made to:
First Unitarian-Universalist
Church Memorial Fund
4605 Cass Avenue (at Forest)
Detroit, MI 48201
Final
arrangements entrusted to
Swanson Funeral Home
14751 W. McNichols