John Rundle

SPARTA - John Rundle, 79, died Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008, at Newton Memorial Hospital.

Born and raised in Lead, S.D., Mr. Rundle lived in Bovina Center, N.Y., for many years then moved to Montague in 1998. In 2004, Mr. Rundle moved to Sparta to live with his daughter, Marilyn.

A U.S. Air Force veteran, Mr. Rundle served in Germany during the Korean War. He was a machinist for Federal Paper Board in Saddle Brook before his retirement in 1988.

Mr. Rundle loved history, his family, and his home state of South Dakota. He was also a nature lover, a master machinist and an awesome father, grandfather and brother, his family said.

The son of the late Thomas and Gwendolyn Wasley, Mr. Rundle was predeceased by his wife, Patricia A. Rundle, on July 7, 2004.

He is survived by one daughter, Marilyn Schwartz of Sparta; one son, John-Howard Rundle and his wife, Lori, of Milford, Pa.; his grandsons, Michael Schwartz and Joshua Rundle; one brother, Raymond Rundle and his wife, Billie, of Spring Grove, Ill.; two sisters, Laura Edsall and Dorothy Olson of Belle Fourche, S.D.; and his sister-in-law, Clair Kesnig and her husband, Colonel George Kesnig, of New Jersey.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 29, 2008, at the First Baptist Church of Newton. Interment will follow in Newton Cemetery. Visitation will be held Thursday, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m., at the Smith-McCracken Funeral Home, 63 High St., Newton. Burial will take place in Newton Cemetery with military honors.

Memorial donations may be made to the First Baptist Church of Newton, 110 Main St., Newton, NJ 07860.