John O. Nebgen, 93, of Bern, KS, died December 15, 2002, at the Sabetha Hospital. He was transferred there from the Apostolic Christian Home in Sabetha where he had been a resident since 1999.

He was born October 22, 1909, north of Sweet Springs, MO, one of seven children of William F. and Clara Mueller Nebgen. On the day of his birth, his parents were holding a public sale in preparation for a move to Oklahoma where the last of the Indian Territory had been opened to settlement. The family settled on a farm near Pryor, OK, but due to primitive living conditions and because survival was hard, they returned to Missouri in 1918. They lived southwest of Oak Grove, MO in the Wide-A-Wake neighborhood.

John graduated from Oak Grove High School in 1927, and in 1932 he received a bachelor’s degree in social science from William Jewell College in Liberty, MO. During college he was an editor of the college yearbook. After teaching for a few years, in 1937 he moved to Bern, KS to work on the Bern Gazette as writer, printer, and publisher.

On June 20, 1938, he married Marjorie Wittwer in Savannah, MO. They lived in Sedan for a year before returning to Bern to publish the Bern Gazette. John later worked as an agent for Standard Oil. In early 1943 he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent in early 1944 to England as a medic with the 96th General Hospital Unit. He was discharged in 1945. In 1950 he joined the Bern Oil Company as a partner until his retirement in 1971. His wife Marjorie preceded him in death on April 27, 1997.

He was a member of the United Methodist Church in Bern, where he had served as treasurer and a trustee, the Charles F. Fankhauser Post #326 of the American Legion, and the Knights of Pythias. He also served on the city council for two terms, mayor of Bern for two terms, and on the school board of the Bern Elementary School for several years.

Survivors are a son, John T. “Tom” Nebgen of Rome, IL; two daughters, Palle Rilinger of Kansas City, MO and Patricia Swayne, of Dayton, OH; seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial services will be heled at 1:30 PM Monday, December 23, at the United Methodist Church in Bern. Inurnment will be at the Bern Cemetery.

Memorials may be given for the United Methodist Church, Bern, Kansas 66408.