John Michael (Mike) Lane, 67, went to be with his Lord and Savior on Friday, October 11, 2024. Mike was born on August 13, 1957, in Amarillo, TX to Margaret ‘Sue’ Knight and Ronnie Robertson. Mike was later adopted by his step father Kenneth Lane. Mike moved to Lawrence, KS in 1974, with his mother and father, Sue and Ken Lane. He attended Lawrence High School and graduated in 1976.
In 1978, he met the love of his life Gloria Weldon and they married on April 21, 1979. Mike went on to graduate from Cameron University with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Aided Drafting, in Lawton, OK in 1984, and went to work for Halliburton in Duncan, OK. On August 19, 1985, their daughter Briannan Renee was born.
After a short time in Carrollton, TX they moved back to the Kansas City area (where Gloria grew up). There Mike worked at various jobs in drafting and sales. Matthew Kyle was born November 28, 1989. Mike became very active in the Presbyterian Church as a young adult helping with youth group and then as a Deacon and a Stephen Minister.
He felt called to the ministry and so at the age of 40 he and the family moved to Austin, TX so he could attend the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He graduated in January 2001. His first call was at First Central Presbyterian Church in Abilene, TX as associate pastor. That is where he became involved in global missions taking mission trips to Romania. In 2003, he became the sole pastor of Glenview Presbyterian Church in Glenview, IL.
In 2006, he took the position as associate pastor at Knox Presbyterian Church in Overland Park, KS (our “home” church prior to seminary). There he worked with the Stephen Ministry program and missions. The church developed a partnership with Payap Church in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Through those mission trips he learned about the plight of the Karen tribe in northern Burma and through an organization in Northern Thailand spent several days in a refugee camp. From that he felt called to help displaced Karen people in northern Thailand especially children living in several children’s home.
In 2010, he created the non-profit organization Hope for the Children of Burma that initially helped support several children’s homes primarily housing children from the Karen tribe. Later the name was changed to Hope Bridges and continued to help underprivileged children in northern Thailand. Mike really enjoyed Thai coffee and found that he could bring Thai coffee directly from Thailand, that employed people there giving them gainful employment and then the coffee was sent to Eleos Coffee Shop a ministry near downtown Kansas City that has a homeless ministry where, the beans were roasted and then delivered to Hope Bridges and was then sold to customers all over the US. The proceeds from the sell were then used to help support the children of northern Thailand.
Mike made about 19 trips to Thailand over the years on his own and also taking groups of people along to complete special projects at the children’s homes. In November 2015, Bre’Anna Torres came into our lives when she was a freshman in high school and lived with us until her graduation in May 2019.
Mike then also served as an interim associate pastor at the Presbyterian Church of Stanley and then Cornerstone Presbyterian Church. Cornerstone supported Hope Bridges by buying and serving this great Thai coffee on Sunday mornings (which they still do to this day). For years he faithfully went early on Sundays to prepare and serve the coffee. He was affectionately known as “the coffee guy”.
In October 2021, Mike was diagnosed with dementia with Lewy Bodies and kept his good humor and large personality until the disease took over in July of this year. He was a resident at the Village at Mission at the time of his death and was under the care of hospice for his last month of life.
He will be truly missed by friends and family. He is survived by his wife Gloria (Weldon) Lane, his daughter Briannan Patience (Ryan) and their children Hunter, Wesson, Barrett, Kimber, Remi and Cali, and son Matthew Lane and daughter Bre’Anna Torres (Cesar Flores) and their son Noah. He is also survived by his sisters Cheryl Nye (Jeff) and Kris Jamison (Randy).
In lieu of flowers it is suggested to send a donation to Hope Bridges at PO Box 1602 Belton, MO. 64012, Cornerstone Presbyterian Church or your favorite charity.
Cousin ,Lyons ,Kansas
I was so lucky too be able to grow up with Mike and his family,we all have and had special love and relationships. God will love hanging around Mike! I will miss his laugh and smiling face. Ron
Coffee drinker at Cornerstone ,Overland Park ,Kansas
He will be missed so much!
Friend ,Colorado Springs ,Colorado
I feel so blessed to have been lucky enough to go on a couple of trips to Thailand with Mike. Those trips introduced me to mission work and I’ve always been thankful to Mike for showing me Thailand. Mike was one of the best and I’ll miss him. Gloria and family - very sorry for your loss! God Bless!
Friend ,Lenexa ,Kansas
Gloria - we would like to pass along our sincere condolences. Mike was a dear man with a great sense of humor. We so enjoyed having him as part of our Brew Crew group of friends. Blessings. Jeff & Kim Cook