John Patrick Anthony “Jack” Wells was born in St. Louis, MO, to William Ritchey and Alice Cullen Wells on June 13, 1929, the feast of St. Anthony. He attended Catholic elementary schools and was a proud graduate of St. Louis University High School (class of 1947). After high school, he attended St. Louis University before enlisting in the Navy. He served on an LST, the USS Chimon, stationed in the Sea of Japan during the Korean War. He attained the rank of Petty Officer Third Class before being honorably discharged.
Returning home to St. Louis, he was active in the Young Adult’s club at St. Luke’s parish, a source of many lifelong friendships. He also continued another lifelong passion – playing soccer. He played goalie and coached for the Hibernians into the early 1960s. As his sons came along, he coached and refereed for their teams.
At a friend’s wedding, he met a lovely girl who could not have been more unlike him. Jack was gregarious and his favorite clothing pattern was paisley print so even his clothes were loud. In spite of this, the shy, quiet, beige-loving, pretty girl thought he was cute. He lived in Richmond Heights, she lived in Florissant – quite a distance in those days. The one thing they had in common was their Catholic faith. The young woman, LaVerne, had prayed to St. Anthony to help her find the right husband. Along came Jack who was born on the feast of St. Anthony and who had chosen Anthony as his Confirmation name. This was a sign from God as far as LaVerne was concerned. When he proposed, she accepted. They were married at North American Martyrs Church in Florissant on October 3, 1959.
Their marriage was blessed by the births of seven children, 17 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren.
Jack worked most of his life in sales and customer service, at McDonnell Aircraft, Wabash Mill, Roy E. Schmidt, Inc., and finally at Georgia-Pacific Corp.
His work with Georgia-Pacific resulted in him moving his family to Cape Girardeau, MO where they lived for 40 years. Jack helped bring youth soccer to the Cape area, serving as a referee for the newly formed soccer leagues. He and LaVerne were also very active in their parish, St. Vincent de Paul, as well as in Marriage Encounter, Retorno, Cursillo, TEC, White House retreats, and the local food pantry,
Throughout his life, Jack was an avid genealogist. A highlight of his life was traveling to Ireland to reconnect with his maternal cousins there and visit the ancestral homestead in Kiltyclogher. He spent thousands of hours researching his family tree. He treasured the artifacts he inherited from ancestors who had fought in the Civil War and the war of 1812. He was a proud Sappington descendant and, in a celebration of the founding of the city of Fenton, he was honored as a descendant of the founder. He compiled thousands of genealogical records, first on handwritten sheets of drafting paper, and eventually, with LaVerne’s help, he transferred them into digital form. His grandmother, Grace Ritchey Wells, a descendant of Revolutionary War veterans Captain John Long and Sergeant John Sappington, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Jack was happy that the DAR legacy continued through his sister Nancy, as well as through his daughter, Sharon, and he enjoyed sharing stories with members of the John Sappington Chapter of the DAR.
In 2015, Jack and LaVerne returned to St. Louis, enjoying retirement at Our Lady of Life Apartments, making new friends and reconnecting with friends from the past. Free from the responsibilities of home ownership, they enjoyed outings and fellowship with the other residents and staff. They were grateful for access to the chapel there where they could continue their practice of daily Mass attendance. As his health began to decline, Jack was especially grateful for the daily assistance provided to him by his friend Javier Parada. Javier’s assistance contributed greatly to Jack being able to remain with LaVerne at Our Lady of Life in his final months.
Jack was preceded in death by his parents, his parents-in-law, Roy and Loretta Schmidt, his siblings: Mary Alice (Frank) Goedde, Bill (Betty) Wells, Posey (George) Guthier, Dan Wells, Nancy (Bill) Schrick, Joan Holke, and Maggie Lefmann, his brother-in-law and sister-in-law Art (Marge) Schmidt, as well as by unborn children Nicholas and Joseph, and an unborn grandchild. He is survived by his one true love, LaVerne, his children Sharon (Jim) Essner, Kevin, Dennis (Teri), Chris (Betsy), Brian (Trish), Roy (Kim), and Terry Wells. His loving family also includes grandchildren: Joe (Allie), Ben, and Matt Essner (Cecile Sison), Dominique Wells, Hallie Trinidad, Cheyenne Mondragon, Patrick Wells, Maggie Wells (Nick) Pappas, Nathan (Bridget), and Ian (Olivia) Wells, Brittany (Jordan) Chow, Jolie, Kaci, Ayla, Pachem, John and Evelyn Wells. As proud as he was of all his kids and grandkids, he would tell anyone who would listen about his precious great-grandbabies: Elsa, Frankie, and John Essner, Hank Wells, and Taelynn Trinidad. In his final months, if there wasn’t a soccer match on TV, Jack would sit and watch photos of the babies scroll through on his digital photo frame. Jack is also survived by his sister-in-law, Helen Wells, his brother-in-law, Ken Holke, and dozens of beloved cousins, nieces and nephews.
LaVerne and the family wish to express their appreciation to the staff and residents at Our Lady of Life, to the caregivers who helped Jack during his final illness, to the staff of Unity Hospice, to Fr. Knight and Fr. Dan Thiess, and to family and friends who supported us in prayer.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday December 3, 4:00-8:00 p.m at Kutis Funeral Home, 10151 Gravois, Rd. in Affton. Funeral Mass will be at St. Catherine Laboure Church, 9740 Sappington Rd., St. Louis, on Thursday December 4 at 11:00 a.m. Interment with military honors will be at Jefferson Barracks Cemetery at 1:30 p.m.