John Adrian Kimball

John “Jack” Adrian Kimball was born September 28, 1937, to Francis and Ruth (Peterson) Kimball.
Because there was no room at the inn, he was born in a schoolhouse converted to a farmhouse where the family was living at the time, located near Columbia; SD. Dr. B.F. Markin was the attending physician along with a midwife, Florence Vietmeier, his mother’s sister.

The Kimball family moved in early 1942 to a farm two miles North and half a mile East of Claremont. John attended a one room schoolhouse one mile north and a half a mile east near their farm through 5th grade. Then, for grades 6-12, he attended Claremont Public School. He graduated in May of 1955 and worked on three different farms until October 1955 when he joined the Army. He was stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas and later transferred to the military police company on the Main Post of Fort Riley. In December of 1956 he went to Germany, stationed at Garmisch then later moved to Regensburg for about two years. He was sent to Munich. In September of 1959 he returned to Fort Lewis, Washington. There he was a motorcycle MP. He was discharged in February 1961.

John return to South Dakota and worked on a farm near Claremont. In 1963 he moved to Seattle and worked as a roofer until January 1964 when he went back to the reenlisted in the Army. He spent the next 13 months in Korea, 25 miles north of Seoul with the 1st Calvary Division. In 1964 he went to Bremer Haven, Germany, for two years. He was there until May of 1966 and was returned to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. In October 1966 he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia to fill slots in a MP Platoon boat attached to the 199th infantry BDE forming to deploy to Vietnam. In November of 1966 they boarded a troop (train) in GA. The next stop was Oakland, California. There they boarded a troop ship and enjoyed a free 21-day cruise across the Pacific. They dropped anchor in Vung Tau Harbor with everyone off the ship except the MP platoon and merchant marines.

After a tour in Vietnam, he was sent to Ft. Meade, Maryland. In October of 1970 he volunteered for duty as a Sky Marshall. He trained at Ft. Dix, NJ with 888 other volunteers from different branches of the military. They were grouped into classes of 25-30 men and received 40 hours of training from the FAA. John’s class was assigned to National Airlines in Miami to ride as security – Deputy US Marshalls. John and another MP flew 11 trips from Miami to London in his first 30 days. On their first trip an agent from the ATF went along to show them the routine. The first night in London the agent took them to supper at the Playboy Club. After 30 days the switched to riding 747’s from Miami to Los Angeles and from Miami to New York City. John resigned that duty in February of 1971 to return to Ft. Meade since his son, Bill, was due in March.

Later in 1971, he went on recruiting duty in Greece, New York (a suburb of Rochester). In 1973, he left the recruiting job and went to Bitburg, Germany where he was a security chair with a MP squad guarding a missile site. In September of 1976 he returned to Ft. Meade, Maryland, and after 20 years, he retired from the Army.

He returned to the Army upon leaving the Army, he to South Dakota and began a new career as a “Relocation Engineer”-better known as a long-haul truck driver. He drove a truck for several companies, driving in all 48 lower states and 6 Canadian provinces. After 30 year, he retired again in September of 2007. He worked at Cabela’s in Rapid City for about six months until complete retirement set in.

During all this enjoyable life John was married three times. First to Judy Rowe in 1960. They had one daughter, Michelle, and were divorced in 1967. He married Linda Cummings in 1968. They had a son, Bill, and a daughter, Myssie. They were divorced in 1977. John met Judie Feser after he retired from the Army in December of 1978. They later married. Judie died in September of 2012 due to a blood clot in the brain. They were living in Black Hawk, SD at the time. He returned to Claremont in 2017. John sold his 80 acres and his home and moved back to Casa Grande, Arizona in May of 2018, where he resided and enjoyed the warm sunshine until he received his final set of orders to relocate for the final time on August 9, 2021.

John is survived by his 3 children his sister, Glenda Hays, Hopewell, Virginia, and several grandchildren, nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Judie, and his parents, and his sister, Beverly Smith and Louise Atkinson, brother- in- law. And his nephew, David Atkinson.