John Kane ... former pastor at Milton Mills church

John Kane, 67, who was born on Dec. 18, 1954, died peacefully on Sept. 2, 2022 at his home with family after a battle with cancer.

Volunteering to write my dad's obituary was something I wanted to do not knowing how difficult it is to put a life into only a couple paragraphs so I'll try to summarize as well as I can over the next few paragraphs.

If he were ever to get a tattoo, it would read "Hard Work Pays Off" and he would have learned how to tattoo it to himself. The man was learned in everything. His words, not mine, although it would be pretty accurate. Nurse Anesthetist, Pain Manager, Pastor, Woodworker, and even Magician. Those are the big ones but if there was a trade out there, he was well versed in knowing more than most about it. He had pride for his home and

constantly working on improving it, which he really enjoyed teaching me although I wasn't all that interested, which didn't matter... at all.

In his work, he did everything for my mother, Linda, and myself. He'd only take time for himself when absolutely necessary. From what I know, he was pretty great at what he did and chose the right career for himself. He worked at Frisbie Memorial Hospital as a CRNA for about 20 years. That's a pretty incredible milestone. But it didn't stop there. After this, he went and worked as a Pain Management Specialist for another 18 years. When he wasn't working at one of those, he taught himself how to do magic and performed shows for public events and birthday parties. But what he was most proud of was when he went through all the schooling necessary to become ordained as a minister. With it, he led the services at Liberty Chapel in Milton Mills for 10 years. His sermons were spectacular. I know he wished for a bigger congregation but took what he could get and never was discouraged. I think the success rate of touching someone with his words was near 100% every Sunday.

Dad retired at 66. During this time, he and my mother were able to do the traveling and have the experiences they had waited so long to do. Motorcycle road trips, taking the RV cross country, cruise to Alaska, and even a trip to Ireland and Scotland. These were incredible rewards for all his hard work and much deserved.

Not too long after returning from a very extensive trip cross country to see family and friends, and coming to stay in Texas with me for months, I got a phone call with nothing but terrible news. I don't need to go into all the details, I gather if you're reading this, you know what I'm talking about.

That was 9 months ago. Whether it was bringing joy to someone's son at a birthday party with a card trick, putting someone to sleep for a surgery while playing Jim Croce in the OR, or saying a prayer over someone sick, hurting, or lost, he was there to help. As my father, he was there for me for anything. For my mother, well, she was lucky enough to spend so many years with him, even through the hard times. He'll certainly be missed and I have stories for years but I think I'll keep them for me and share when I'm reminded by him.

And yeah, I'm aware this is a long obituary but he knew how to tell a story and, if anything, that's something he taught me.