Jon Ralph Van Wagenen

In Loving Memory of

image of Jon Ralph Van Wagenen

– Since he was such a book worm,

his family thought his obituary

should be written as one –

A First Edition – 1-19-2026

Chapter One – Beginnings

Born on February 10, 1948 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Welcomed by parents, John & Shirley Van Wagenen.
Became a big brother to Richard Van Wagenen three years later.
Van Wagenen Family expanded with K9, Kelly, the Basset Hound.
On 7/19/1992, he gave up bachelor life to marry Barbara Menzel at Frasinetti Winery, officiated by Bill Bibb, Baptist Minister.
- Barb insists she was never legally married to Duke since Bill referred to her as Barbara Mandrell throughout the ceremony.
- If that wasn’t crazy enough, some pranksters (you know who you are) substituted can pop tops for the ring ceremony.
- Stepdaughters, Tressa and Kate Humbert served as flower girls.
Family size increased with many terriers. The most recent is an 8 lb. rescue, named Starry.

Chapter Two – What’s In A Name

Tagged with many monikers:

Chapter Three – School Days

Chapter Four – Oh, the Places You Went

Omaha, Des Moines, & Cincinnati (Family Residences)
Served as:
- Weapons Controller, Fort Lee AFS, Virginia
- Operations Officer, Alaskan Command, Cape Newenham AFS, Alaska
- Radar Inputs Countermeasures Officer, Luke AFB, Arizona
- Weapons Controller Instructor, Lockheed Aircraft Co. International, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia)

Employed in San Francisco (Reliance Surety), Sacramento (Point West Bank), Portland (Ohio Casualty), Seattle (Liberty Mutual).
Baseball Stadiums (LA, Boston, Kansas City, Seattle…) He quoted numerous statistics about players & teams. He collected hundreds of baseball cards. He loved the Dodgers & painted his childhood bedroom Dodger Blue.
World Traveler – Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Holland, & Switzerland.

Chapter Five – Let’s Get Together

Enjoyed reunions with:
- North High School Classmates
- Nickerson (cousins Jim & Dave) & Nugent Families among them
- Point West Bank staff
- Lockheed Group, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia: Dwight Menard, Ken Ray, Bill Solyan, Darl Stevenson, Skip Sweeney, & Roger Voegele. Deceased: Bill Frazier, Boyd Simms, Bob Swartz & Ken Wilson.
Loved to go cruising in his 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302.
Enjoyed doubles tennis matches in the Arizona heat.
Spent winters skiing with friends Skip & Regina in Switzerland.
Took multiple opportunities to share his favorite lemon loaf pastry at Starbucks with step grandchildren, Max & Emma.
Dined with Saudi locals to savor animal eyeballs at a royal feast.
Searched for first editions & read all types of literature (autobiographies, biographies, mysteries, poetry, & more.
He loved the humor of Yogi Berra (“If you don’t know where’re you’re going, when you get there you’ll be lost.”) & George Carlin’s Al Sleet, Hippy Dippy Weatherman (“Weather tonight: dark. Turning partly light by morning.”).
His book collection filled over 20 boxes.

Chapter Six – Sounds of Music

Enjoyed Big Band (Glen Miller), Jazz (Dizzy Gillespie), Rock & Roll (The Beatles & Bee Gees), Country Western (Willie Nelson), Tex Mex (Texas Tornadoes), & Folk (Simon & Garfunkel).
Master of Name that Tune for hundreds of songs, including the artist(s), their instruments, & lyrics.
Played the clarinet (Recognized with a signed photo of Benny Goodman).

Chapter Seven – Endings

Even though his last weeks were very difficult, thank you to his friends & family who made that time special with calls sharing stories & sending photos.
His Celebration of Life will be held June 19^th @ 10 AM at Forest Lawn Cemetery, 7909 Mormon Bridge Road, Omaha, NE 68152, 402-451-1000. Contact Tony Gum (402-660-2068) or Rich Van Wagenen (402) 916-0144 for more info.
Please enter your favorite memories of Duke in the Obituaries Section of the online memorial at . There is no end date for the site.

Epilogue – Memorials

More photos are posted on Duke’s Facebook page.
Enjoy one last toast to our departed family member & friend by clicking the play button on the “The Parting Glass” video below.