The Rev. John Carl Barnum, 92, died Sept. 14, 2022, at Colby, Kansas, where he had lived since Oct. 2012.
He was born Sept. 6, 1930, in Kalispell, Mont., the son of the Rev. G.
William Barnum and Julia Sophia Feldhusen Barnum. He had seven older
siblings: Ruth, Grace, Jean, Bill, Julia, Mary, and Dorothy. He was
baptized by his pastor father in the Kalispell Presbyterian Church as an
infant.
Following graduation from Litchfield High School in Montana, Macalester
College in Saint Paul, Minn. and McCormick Theological Seminary in
Chicago, John was ordained on on June 8, 1955, to the ministry at First
Presbyterian Church in Eureka Springs, Ark., where his father was
pastor. That summer he served as Mobile Minister to a group of scattered
people north east of Missoula, Montana, with the understanding that he
would be back the following summer. In the fall, while obtaining his
Master’s degree in Christian Education from McCormick Seminary, John
began working with a group of interested people in Champaign, Ill., and
helped organize the Community Presbyterian Church, now known as
Westminster.
John spent the next 10 years in Montana, organizing and serving the
Blackfoot Presbyterian Parish, consisting of churches in Seeley Lake,
Ovando and Potomac, each church separated by 30 miles. He then moved to
Ft. Collins, Colo. to become Mobile Minister to five churches in
northern Colorado; Livermore, Virginia Dale, Poudre Valley, Red Feather
Lakes and Glendevy.
On December 30, 1965, John Barnum and Shirley Davis were united in
marriage at Wellshire Presbyterian Church in Denver. In addition to
being a new husband, John became an instant father to Grant, Evan, and
Scott, whom he legally adopted in 1966. The Barnums lived in Ft. Collins
before moving to Boulder, Colo., to serve Valmont Community
Presbyterian Church. After five years there he served 10 years at Colby
Presbyterian Church, Colby, Kansas, then almost 15 years in the Harper
County Presbyterian Parish (Harper, Hopewell-Anthony, and Corwin) and
eight years at Viola United Presbyterian Church at Viola, Kansas, all
southwest of Wichita.
After his wife, Shirley, graduated from Phillips Theological Seminary at
Enid, Okla. in 1988, they became co-pastors of the churches. John
retired in 1997 and they moved to Viola, then Wichita before returning
to Colby in 2012.
His parents, all seven of his siblings and a son, Scott, of Colby,
pre-deceased him. He is survived by his wife Shirley, Colby; two sons,
Dr. Grant Barnum (Carol), Osage Beach, Mo., Evan (Regena), Colby;
Scott’s wife Janice, (Colby); seven grandchildren: Cheryl Ellison,
Grant, Jr., Julie, Christopher, David, Amanda and Matthew, and three
great-grandchildren; Mira, Sterling and Danielle, several nieces,
nephews and cousins.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, September 24, at the Colby First Presbyterian Church, 515 W Fourth St, Colby, KS 67701.
Memorials in lieu of flowers may be sent to the church or the Alzheimer's Association.