Jon Ralph Van Wagenen

In Loving Memory of  

Jon Ralph Van Wagenen

– Since he was such a book worm,

his family thought his obituary

should be written as one –

 A First Edition – 1-19-2026

Chapter One – Beginnings

• Born on February 10, 1948 in Omaha, Nebraska.
• Welcomed by parents, John & Shirley Van Wagenen.
• Became a big brother to Richard Van Wagenen three years later.
• Van Wagenen Family expanded with K9, Kelly, the Basset Hound.
• On 7/19/1992, he gave up bachelor life to marry Barbara Menzel at Frasinetti Winery, officiated by Bill Bibb, Baptist Minister.
  • Barb insists she was never legally married to Duke since Bill referred to her as Barbara Mandrell throughout the ceremony.
  • If that wasn’t crazy enough, some pranksters (you know who you are) substituted can pop tops for the ring ceremony.
  • Stepdaughters, Tressa and Kate Humbert served as flower girls.
• Family size increased with many terriers. The most recent is an 8 lb. rescue, named Starry.

Chapter Two – What’s In A Name

Tagged with many monikers:

• Duke named after movie star John Wayne (his father was a friend of Wayne)
• JR (Compliments of Tressa and Aaron Huber)
• Jon Ralph (Source – Katerine Humbert)
• Captain Van Wagenen (USAF)
• Opa (German for Grandpa used by step grandchildren Max & Emma Lien)

Chapter Three – School Days

• Elementary School, Omaha
• North High School, Omaha
• University of Nebraska (UNO), B. S. in Business Administration
• Pilot Training, US Air Force, Texas

Chapter Four – Oh, the Places You Went

• Omaha, Des Moines, & Cincinnati (Family Residences)
• Served as:
  • Weapons Controller, Fort Lee AFS, Virginia
  • Operations Officer, Alaskan Command, Cape Newenham AFS, Alaska
  • Radar Inputs Countermeasures Officer, Luke AFB, Arizona
  • Weapons Controller Instructor, Lockheed Aircraft Co. International, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia)

• Employed in San Francisco (Reliance Surety), Sacramento (Point West Bank), Portland (Ohio Casualty), Seattle (Liberty Mutual).
• Baseball Stadiums (LA, Boston, Kansas City, Seattle…) He quoted numerous statistics about players & teams.  He collected hundreds of baseball cards.  He loved the Dodgers & painted his childhood bedroom Dodger Blue.
• World Traveler – Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Holland, & Switzerland.

Chapter Five – Let’s Get Together

• Enjoyed reunions with:
  • North High School Classmates
  • Nickerson (cousins Jim & Dave) & Nugent Families among them
  • Point West Bank staff
  • Lockheed Group, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia: Dwight Menard, Ken Ray, Bill Solyan, Darl Stevenson, Skip Sweeney, & Roger Voegele.  Deceased: Bill Frazier, Boyd Simms, Bob Swartz & Ken Wilson.
• Loved to go cruising in his 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302.
• Enjoyed doubles tennis matches in the Arizona heat.
• Spent winters skiing with friends Skip & Regina in Switzerland.
• Took multiple opportunities to share his favorite lemon loaf pastry at Starbucks with step grandchildren, Max & Emma.
• Dined with Saudi locals to savor animal eyeballs at a royal feast.
• Searched for first editions & read all types of literature (autobiographies, biographies, mysteries, poetry, & more.
• He loved the humor of Yogi Berra (“If you don’t know where’re you’re going, when you get there you’ll be lost.”) & George Carlin’s Al Sleet, Hippy Dippy Weatherman (“Weather tonight: dark. Turning partly light by morning.”).
• His book collection filled over 20 boxes.

Chapter Six – Sounds of Music

• Enjoyed Big Band (Glen Miller), Jazz (Dizzy Gillespie), Rock & Roll (The Beatles & Bee Gees), Country Western (Willie Nelson), Tex Mex (Texas Tornadoes), & Folk (Simon & Garfunkel).
• Master of Name that Tune for hundreds of songs, including the artist(s), their instruments, & lyrics.
• Played the clarinet (Recognized with a signed photo of Benny Goodman).

Chapter Seven – Endings

• Even though his last weeks were very difficult, thank you to his friends & family who made that time special with calls sharing stories & sending photos.
• His Celebration of Life will be held June 19^th @ 10 AM at Forest Lawn Cemetery, 7909 Mormon Bridge Road, Omaha, NE 68152, 402-451-1000. Contact Tony Gum (402-660-2068) or Rich Van Wagenen (402) 916-0144 for more info.
• Please enter your favorite memories of Duke in the Obituaries Section of the online memorial at https://bartonfuneral.com/. There is no end date for the site.

Epilogue – Memorials

• More photos are posted on Duke’s Facebook page.
• Enjoy one last toast to our departed family member & friend by clicking the play button on the “The Parting Glass” video below.