CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — John Edward Young, 92, of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025 at The Lutheran Home.
He was born Feb. 25, 1933 near Mayfield, Kansas to Ernest Edgar and Janie Ruth Vaughn Young.
He spent his childhood years cultivating a love of learning, both in and out of school, in Mayfield and later Altamont, Kansas, where he lived and worked on tenant farms with his parents, brother, and three sisters. He also enjoyed many years playing school sports, including baseball, football, and basketball, and lettered in all of these during high school.
At the age of 14 he placed his faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized along with his father on the same day. He graduated from Labette County Community High School in 1950.
Attending Sunday School one morning that summer, he spotted an intriguing new girl, Rachael Pennington, and their romance began. He and Rachael Helen Pennington were married Aug. 31, 1952 at Altamont, Kansas.
John went to Parsons Junior College on a football scholarship while dating Rachael. After they were married, they attended Ottawa University, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and Mathematics along with a teaching certificate, thus beginning his teaching career in high schools in Conway Springs, Kansas City, and his hometown of Altamont. He and Rachael began their family in 1953.
As their family grew, John then pursued three advanced degrees through National Science Foundation fellowships and began teaching at the University level. He taught at Kent State University in Ohio from 1962 to 1968.
While there and later in Cape Girardeau he coauthored several textbooks for non-math majors, which filled a niche, becoming widely used at more than 300 colleges and universities.
In 1968, the family moved to Cape Girardeau where he began teaching at Southeast Missouri State University. Following a one-year leave of absence during which he completed his PhD in Mathematics Education at Kansas State University, in 1974 he attained full professorship. He taught night classes and workshops in the Bootheel Region for most of his career at Southeast and was a valued contributor in a statewide initiative to provide age-appropriate K-6 Science and Mathematics materials to elementary teachers.
For over 30 years at Southeast, he taught more than 10,000 students. He also highly valued and enjoyed his colleagues in the Mathematics Department, keeping in touch far into his retirement.
John was a man who truly enjoyed facts and figures. From baseball stats as a boy to accounting expenses and average costs of supporting a family with eight children to serving as comptroller in his church. He also served many years as a deacon in the First Baptist Church where he was a member from 1969 to the day of his passing.
He was an explorer and took his entire family on carefully planned annual travels to visit his family in Kansas and his wife’s family in California by driving and tent camping out of a station wagon, visiting national parks all along the way.
After the birth of his daughter with Down Syndrome in 1977, he became involved in the local Down Syndrome Association, served on the Missouri Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities, and later as a board member at VIP Industries. John also supported his family through the years by putting out large home-cooked meals which grew larger by the year at family gatherings that topped thirty and even forty people. He valued his extended family and friends from the good old days as well, always prioritizing visits when passing through and other forms of contact through the years.
Survivors include three sons, Lawrence “Larry” (Deborah) Young of Cape Girardeau, Eric (Nanci) Young of Pocahontas, Arkansas, Bryan (Amy) Young of Jackson; four daughters, Melinda (Michael) Mullins of Waterloo, Illinois, Kirsten “Kris” (Christopher) Rasche of Rogers, Arkansas, Sarah Young of Cape Girardeau, Lucinda “Cindy” Young of Cape Girardeau; son-inlaw, Carl “David” Atkins of Cape Girardeau; two sisters, Mary Sue (Larry) Drake of Ozark, Missouri, Barbara (Greg) Renz of Fort Worth, Texas; Grandchildren: Crystal (Mark Hudoba) Monahan, Carly (Lee) Winters, Jessica Atkins, Lauren (Joseph) Thomas, Andrew (Kristie) Young, Jonathan (Natalie) Young, Erin (Cody) Ivy, Mary Kathryn “Katie” (Tim) Bromley, Jason Young, Elise Mullins, Sean (Zhanah Wyche-Mullins) Mullins, Lindsay (Ryan) Reams, Veronica (Hunter) Young, Kendall Young, Michael (Lisa) Rasche, Allison (Scott) Brenner, Caitlin (Tyler) Rodgers, and Stephen (Marzée) Rasche; Great-grandchildren: Alexandrea, Shawn, Danielle, Trei, Kiana, Ethan, Gabriel, Jane, Nolan, Leah, Joelle, Aria, Silas, Joanna, Lincoln, Juliette, Jace, Linley, Flinn, and Samuel; Great-great-grandchildren: Mason, Logan, Callen, Maylee, Waylon, Daniel Lee, Silas, Maverick, and Zaylen.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his beloved wife Rachael; daughter, Rebecca Atkins; sister, Ruth Lagasse; and brother, Robert Young.
Friends may call 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29, at Ford & Sons Mt. Auburn Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.
Funeral Service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, at Ford & Sons Mt. Auburn Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau with the Rev. Wesley Tew officiating.
Burial will be at Fairmount Cemetery in Cape Girardeau. Memorial contributions may be given to First Baptist Church or VIP Industries.
Ford & Sons Mt. Auburn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
