John Michael Lauderbaugh

John Michael Lauderbaugh, 80, of Bemidji, MN, passed away on Sunday, September 15, 2024,
peacefully at home surrounded by family after a short time on Hospice.
Funeral service will be held on Saturday, September 21, 2024, at 11:00am at the Evangelical
Free Church of Bemidji. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service. Interment will be
held at Calvary Cemetery in Bemidji, MN.
John was born March 25, 1944, to Ivan C. and Esther (Souder) Lauderbaugh at their family
home in Bemidji. He attended Carr Lake School in Bemidji. John was united in marriage to
Priscilla Jean Girling on November 4, 1964, also in Bemidji. He worked over the road trucking
and construction, retiring from Thorson's road construction. John was most known for his
strawberry farming, owning and operating John's Berry Patch in Bemidji. He studied at the
University of MN to learn how to manage and get the most of his crops. John loved learning
about how things worked and always had a project going. If he needed equipment on his farm
to make things easier, he built it. He was creative and liked inventing, gardening, hunting,
fishing, and spending time with his family and friends. He was a gifted storyteller and often his
stories ended with a punch line. He liked to make people laugh. His sense of humor lasted to
the end, making those surrounding him in his last days laugh more than cry.
John grew up going to Carr Lake Bible Chapel as a child and then the church became the
Evangelical Free Church of Bemidji. The bell on the steeple at the church was donated to the
church by his family. The bell hung in the yard of the generational Lauderbaugh family farm for
many years. This bell, that used to call him in for dinner, will be the same bell rung at his
funeral service.
John is survived by his wife, Jean, of almost 60 years; his three children, Diane (Dennis) Barrett
of Bemidji, Michael (Lynette Troy) Lauderbaugh of Bemidji, and Gregory (Denise) Lauderbaugh
of Montrose, MN; three grandchildren, Dacia (Anthony) Bessler, Devin (Breanna) Barrett, and
Denee (Micah) Kashevaroff all of Bemidji; six great grandchildren, Ariana Bessler, Amelia
Bessler, August Bessler, Lux Barrett, Lennin Barrett and Luka Barrett also all from Bemidji; his
brothers, Stan (Anne) Lauderbaugh of Spokane, WA, Bruce Lauderbaugh of Bemidji, Daniel
(Carol) Lauderbaugh of Bemidji; his sisters, Barbara (El) Schefers of Buffalo, MN, Joan (Dean)
Streblow of Red Lodge, MT, and Linda (Dave Strebel) Lauderbaugh of Bemidji; and his sister-in-
law, Elaine Lauderbaugh also of Bemidji. He is survived by many other loved family members
and friends.
He is preceded in death by his parents; brother, Ivan E. Lauderbaugh; sister, Delores
Christiansen; Brother-in-law, Melvin Christiansen; Sister-in-law Rebecca Lauderbaugh and other
loved family members and friends.