- Date Of Birth: August 12, 1936
- Date Of Death: February 1, 2022
- State: Colorado
Lieutenant Colonel (retired) John E. Bartos, United States Air Force, passed away at his home in Golden, CO on February 1, 2022. He is survived by his beloved wife, Karen Andrea, daughter Julie Louise Bartos, sister Elsie Susan (Bartos) Ruzek and granddaughters Katja Zuzana and Anjali (JuJu) JunHua Behrens. He is preceded in death by his parents and sister Alyce Mary (Bartos) Bryant.
John received his bachelor’s degree (BS in Accounting) from Bradley University and Master’s degrees from the University of Northern Colorado (MS in Systems Management) and Webster University (MA in Procurement Management). While a student at Bradley he served as the school’s business manager for the weekly student newspaper and annual yearbook. When he needed secretarial billing support, he sought student help and ultimately made one of his best “hires” ever with Karen Ausbrook. Their marriage, which followed on 27 December 1958, with Karen age 19 and John age 22, lasted for more than 63 years.
A Distinguished Military Student/ROTC at Bradley University, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the USAF in 1958. In June 1959 he was awarded Air Force Navigator wings and graduated from the Air War College, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the Squadron Officers’ School.
A resident of Colorado Springs from 1975 to 2006, he and Karen relocated to Golden to be closer to daughter Julie and her family. In subsequent years he pursued his hobbies of horology and genealogy. Elected a Fellow by the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, he pursued his interests in antique timepieces. His leadership of historic timepieces resulted in completed restoration projects including the Colorado Springs Pioneer’s Museum Street and Tower clocks, the Manitou Springs “Town Clock”, the City of Golden downtown street clock and the Colorado College Shove Memorial Chapel Tower Clock. He and Karen also donated a restored McClintock bank clock to the Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Museum. A dedicated family historian, he published the ancestry of himself (Slovak) and his wife (Scottish/Irish dating back 800 years). A Master Mason, member and treasurer of Golden City Lodge #1, a 32nd degree member of the Denver Consistory, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, he was one who fulfilled their credo of “making a good man better.” In 2019 his Lodge presented him with an Honorary Past Master award. John was also a founding member of Region #13 (Scottish American Military Society’s) Mountain chapter in Colorado Springs.
You are using an outdated web browser that does not support this video.
Your browser does not support this video format. You should be able to view it in Chrome, Safari or Internet Explorer.
