August 2, 1932 – July 27, 2022
Leawood, Kansas – John A. Bruggen, 89 passed away peacefully on July 27, 2022. John was the fourth of 5 brothers to Ben and Ruth (Silletto) Bruggen. He grew up in the Chicago area and attended the University of Illinois for his bachelor’s degree. While there he pledged Sigma Chi from 1950–1954 and to this day had a deep love for his pledge brothers. He was in ROTC in college and later served 2 years in the Army. He was sent to Korea in ’55-’56 in the Army Armored Division, where he was a First Lieutenant and commanding officer of 2 platoons. In 1957, John started work for Del Monte Packing Corporation in Rochelle, Illinois where he met his loving wife, Virginia of 63 years. He then joined Ralston Purina in Marshalltown, IA. While there he earned his master’s degree at Drake University and later moved to Illinois where he became Product Manager at Abbott Laboratories and later Vice President of Sanofi Animal Health. The family moved to Kansas City in 1980 with a company transfer with Sanofi. He later consulted back with Abbott Laboratories in 1996–1999. After retirement, he taught marketing classes at Baker University. John loved reading, playing bridge, golfing, teasing us endlessly, and socializing with friends. His hobby was building model train landscapes and collecting model trains. He was active at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church as an Elder, Usher and at one point Chairman of the finance committee. He was a Sporting KC season ticket holder for many years and enjoyed watching our local soccer team and grandson play. He loved spending his summers with friends and family on our lake home on Big Sand Lake in Park Rapids, MN. He was passionate about his family, teaching them character building values and in general being there for all their important events. John is survived by his wife, Virginia, two children Greg (Carol) and Julie (Vance) Kempin, grandchildren Zachary and Alex (Talia) Bruggen, Brandon, Jonathan, and Katherine Kempin and great granddaughter Genevieve Bruggen.
In lieu of flowers a donation can be made to Kansas City Hospice House, 12000 Wornall Rd, Kansas City, MO 64145 or online www.kchospice.org/donation/ . The family would like to thank the team at the Kansas City Hospice House for their extraordinary passion and care.
Service will be held at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church, 9300 Nall Avenue, Overland Park, KS on August 20, 2022 at 11:00 am. There will also be live streaming of the service at www.rollinghillskc.org.
