- Date Of Birth: May 26, 1949
- Date Of Death: December 5, 2013
- State: Indiana
John R. Vierwinden, 64, of Elkhart passed away Thursday afternoon, Dec. 5, 2013, at Elkhart General Hospital, after a courageous battle with cancer.
John was born May 26, 1949, in Fresno, Calif., to T.C. and Lucille (Phillips) Vierwinden. He married the love of his life, Rhonda M. Berry, on March 25, 1995, in Las Vegas.
She survives as well as children, Pfc. Rhett R.Vierwinden of Fort Bliss, Texas, Ryan E. Vierwinden of California and Heidi (Jay) Saggart of Cape Coral, Fla.; and two grandsons. Surviving as well are his mother, Lucille Vierwinden of Clovis, Calif.; brother David (Dinh) Vierwinden of Fayetteville, N.C.; sisters Cheryl (Frank) Morgan of Madera, Calif., and Cornelia Rush of Clovis; and several nieces and nephews.
His father, T.C., preceded John in death.
John and Rhonda moved to Elkhart from California about two years ago to enjoy life and semi-retire. He worked at Chassix Inc. in Bristol and Mor-Ryde. While working in California, he was facilities maintenance supervisor for more than 25 years with the Toro Co. irrigation division in Riverside, from which he retired, and also formerly worked as supervisor for Bear Medical Systems in Riverside.
John was an avid outdoorsman, enjoying hunting, camping, trap shooting and fishing. He also liked to camp with his family and friends. His hobby was flying RC model helicopters. He was a huge NASCAR fan with No. 16, Greg Biffle, his favorite driver. John served his country in the U.S. Army during Vietnam with more than eight years of active duty, achieving the rank of staff sergeant. He was honorably discharged in 1975. John’s illness was likely from his service in the war from a chemical agent used at that time.
