John Jacob Lunday

John Jacob Lunday 12/19/1928 - 12/18/2025
John was born in Enid, Oklahoma on December 19, 1928. He was the fourth of seven children between Frank and Albertina Lunday. In 1935 when John was six, his father passed away. The times were tough and lean. John and his siblings had to work in order to survive and support the family. John found work delivering milk door-to-door with Paul Oberlin and also delivering newspapers with all proceeds going to help support the family.
At the age of 14, John attended military school in Muskogee, Oklahoma. After a year, he became interested in becoming a brother with the Catholic Church. He transferred to a brother's school in New Jersey and became brother Bartholomew for a couple of years. According to John he decided the life of servitude was not for him. He had not experienced enough of life yet. He returned home at the age of 19 and got a job for the Santa Fe Railroad as an oiler. He would pack and oil the axles of train cars from midnight until 8 o'clock in the morning.
In 1950, when John was 20, the 45th Infantry Division was mobilizing. He and his younger brother Paul enlisted and served together in the Korean War. He was honorably discharged as a sergeant first class in 1953 and returned home.
He then married Rosetta Rochelle (Shelly) on June 2, 1956. They raised four children: Douglas Geis, Gregory, Patricia, and John Lance Lunday. He was a loving and devoted family man who continued to work hard to support his family. He was working for Gilt Edge Farms Milk Dairy in Enid and in 1967 the company transferred him to the Oklahoma City plant. John then settled his family in Moore, Oklahoma.
When he retired from the milk industry, he devoted himself to taking care of his wife. She was showing early signs of dementia and needed full-time care. They were married for 52 years before her passing in 2009.
John has left behind a legacy of three children: Douglas Geis, Patricia Lunday, and John Lance Lunday; four grandchildren: Gregory, Alexander, Victoria, and Vanessa Geis; and three great grandchildren: Everett, Harrison, and Miller Geis.
John's family wish to express what a caring, loving, and devoted man he was. He was their champion and hero who will be sorely missed. But now they can celebrate his reunion with his beloved wife, Shelly.