John Corey Rafteseth

John Corey Rafteseth (60) died unexpectedly on July 4, 2020, at a New Orleans hospital. He was born on July 31, 1959, in Elgin, North Dakota.

John graduated from Elgin High School, Class of 1978. During high school, he served as the President of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) for three years and as the head student manager for the high school football team, also for three years. After graduation, he opted for warmer winters and headed south. He moved to Marrero, Louisiana where he served as a sales dispatcher for a trucking company and as the head of sales for a flatbed brokerage firm. Setting out on his own, he founded and served as the operations manager for his own flatbed brokerage firm in Norcross, Georgia.

Besides Mary, John’s great passion in life was professional drag racing. Known to his racing community as “Big Daddy”, weekends would find him winning trophies at various Impala SS Club of America events around the country, racing his much beloved and very-hard-to-beat ’96 Chevy Impala.

John is preceded in death by his father John Rafteseth and step-father Jose Bahamonde.  

He is survived by his wife, Mary, Mary’s son (Leo), mother Urlla (Toodie) Bahamonde, brother Marty (Cindy) Bahamonde, sister Raquel (Steve) Crider, step-sister Joyce (Mike) Lang and step-brother Joe (Kathy) Bahamonde and numerous nieces and nephews.