John Vingelen

Mr. Vingelen was my counselor at Benson Tech. He cared about people. I was one of many that benefited from his guidance. Due to him, I went on to be reasonably successful, compared to the path I was on. When I graduated with a BSME, I sent him a note thanking him. Hopefully he realized this impact he had on me and others.

I grew up with Johnny and his family who lived next door to us. He was a friendly down to earth guy. I pass along the Edwards' family sympathy and condolences. Bless all of you! Steve Edwards

We want to express our condolences to Anne and family, Anne was the 1st grade teacher to both my sons and we always loved seeing John in the classroom such a sweet happy guy, and they both went to our church. We love you, and your forever in our hearts. Thinking of you and your family Love Wendy, Andrew, Jakey and baby Alex

Mr. Vingelen was my counselor at Benson and I appreciated the fact that he helped this kid who wanted to be in the health occupations program so she could be a veterinarian. But a crazy thing happened, I took a radio class at Benson and went into journalism. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Dear Anne and family,
I enjoyed 20 plus years working with John at Benson High School. Of all the administrators that came and went during that time John stood out because he handled his job with cool confidence and made non emotional solid decisions. God bless your family at this time.
Respectfully,
Vern and Jeanie Melvin

Dearest Anne and family,
Both Carla and I wish to extend are most heartfelt feelings for all of you at this time. Being at our beach home we never knew of John's passing until yesterday and were unable to attend the funeral..We truly will miss John. He was not only a great fellow teacher and counselor but a true friend as well.

My first thought regarding John is here is a very, very nice gentleman!! Life is really such a short passage of time when one recalls the memorable moments of discussions, laughters, social engagements, and grievances! John will be missed by most everyone he touched. Faith gives us the opportunity to believe that the next frontier John faces will greet him with open arms and accept such a worthy, nice, nice man!

John was a counselor of mine at Benson High in the mid '70's and he encouraged us to call him by his first name, something that always struck me as a very cool way to connect with students. We would later be neighbors on 62nd Ave in the Mt. Tabor neighborhood, and I believe he was just taking on the head job at Benson at that time. As a coincidence I worked with his sister Sheryl at a restaurant in the Lloyd Center during my high school years, so if you see this Sheryl, my deepest heartfelt...

Dear Anne:
John was a great friend and I am sure I will continue to remember and miss him for a long time. He taught me that I could not be just a content teacher, I had to teach the whole child. Please take care of yourself.