John Joseph Smokey Bauer Sr.

John Joseph Smokey Bauer Sr.

John Joseph Smokey Bauer was born in Janesville, MN November 28, 1940. He was born into a large family that included twelve living children, and two siblings lost at birth. Not unique to other large families of the era, John’s birth family endured many hardships and as a toddler, John and four of his siblings were placed at the St Joseph’s orphanage in Wabasha, MN, where he would live for the next several years before being lovingly adopted by Albert and Mary Bauer of Austin, MN. John attended St. Augustine elementary school and continued his Catholic education graduating from Pacelli Catholic High School in 1958. John excelled in sports, particularly football, and received a scholarship to attend St Norbert’s College in De Pere Wisconsin. John shared many stories about his adventures had there, including duck hunting and spending time with famed coach Vince Lombardi, having dinner with Vince and his wife Marie and son Vince Jr. Also, during his time at St. Norbert’s, he met Jack & Jackie Kennedy, and journalist Pierre Salinger. A shoulder injury ended John’s college sports career and John returned to Austin just in time to be part of the building crew that built St. Edward’s Catholic Church. This fueled a passion for heavy construction that would endure through John’s life and continued in the lives of his son and grandsons. Some notable builds that he was a part of include the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant and the Pine Valley Creek Bridge, the highest concrete beam bridge in the United States.

John was united in marriage with Lora Lee Christopherson in October of 1963 at St Edward’s Catholic Church in Austin, MN and they made their home in southern California until their divorce in 1969. John and Lora Lee were blessed with three children with this marriage: Tara, Wade, and Lia. John welcomed daughter, Nicole, in 1970. John later married Catherine Sawade Hogoboom and welcomed another son John Jr in 1976. His children were very important to him, and he loved to be able to travel to see them wherever they lived and encourage them to ‘smell the pines’.

John was always up for a good road trip. Whether it was down to the house in Mexico cruising in the Dodge van with nothing but lawn chairs in the back or epic pack-in trips in the Sierras, to just hanging at the lake catching some walleye. Wherever he was, he always shared a good story; Swimming the Mississippi as a young child from the Wabasha side to Nelson, WI one of the many times he made a run from the orphanage, hanging out with Jacque Cousteau and author Clive Cussler in the heady days of the 1960s-70s Southern California diving scene during which time John speared a 420 pound record breaking Black Sea Bass, or sinking his 36 ft boat of the coast of Catalina Island.

John worked a hard, long life retiring as a Journyman Piledriver and spent his retirement busier than most. John was a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity for over twenty-five years, first as a builder of homes then working at the ReStore, scrapping metal that would have been discarded and generating needed money for the nonprofit. John valued his time with Habitat for Humanity and counted fellow volunteer former President Jimmy Carter as one of the great influences in his life. John also spent hundreds of hours along with his children providing tear out and skilled labor in the early years of the Paramount Theatre renovation.

John is survived by children Tara (Troy Nicol) Anderson, Wade (Jody) Bauer, Lia (Jason) Culbert, Nicole (Matt) Shields, and John (Rebecca McMahan) Bauer, Jr. Grandchildren Miles (Ashley) Anderson, Camille (Adam McMasters) Anderson, Ila (Gibson Behr) Anderson, Cole Nicol and family, Krissy Scheid and family, Sid Bauer, Alex Bauer, Owen Culbert, Olivia Culbert, Marissa Bushey, Cody Huston, Mady, Scarlett, Ella, and Berlin Shields, Kayleigh and Nick Shields. Great grandchildren Eli, River, Remy, and Kayla Bushey; Coden and Iris Rose Huston Shields and newest to the family, Leo Dean Behr. John is also survived by brothers Marvin ‘Lefty’ Erickson and family, Al (Betty) Brandt and family, and sister Cathy Muellerliele and family. Great nephew Jeremy Frank and family. John is also survived by sister-in law Linda Hoag and her daughters Christyn (Mark Severtson) McFarland and Chelsea (Brandon) Smith, and sister-in-law Lisa (Ron) Hunt and her daughters Rose and Ricki Ramirez. John always made it a priority to attend any events that his grandchildren, nieces and nephews were involved in, cheering them on. John is also survived by special friend Carol Hoffman of Nisswa, MN.

There are so many birth relatives in the Mankato area that John was incredibly proud of that came to be by his side in his final hours and for that we are so grateful.

John was preceded in death by his parents Albert (Abe) and Mary (Babe) Bauer, Aunts and Uncles Edward (Besse) Lamping, Joseph (Irene) Lamping, Henry (Dorothy) Bauer, Vic (Rose) Bauer, Margaret (Freeman) Granholm, and Luis (Loretta) Reinartz. Cousins Margene (Tom) Lampson, Patricia Reinartz and Sr. Barbara Lamping. Brothers Robert, Raymond, Leo and Joseph Black, Sisters Dorothy Hakes, Helen Rieck, Geraldine Burk, and Rosemary Harris. Several nieces and nephews and former wife Cathy Sawade and stepson David Hogoboom.

In Leu of flowers, the family prefers donations to Habitat for Humanity or the U of M Cancer Research/Austin Hormel Institute.

A Celebration of Life will be held later this summer.

We will miss you Smokey – Hope you’re always doing as good as you can, and better than you should.