Eulogy for John Warren Stark
by
Arlen Bright, John's brother
Yes, you heard it properly, our family names are different, and no, neither one of us were into witness protection plans. We've all heard of brothers from different mothers, which was our case. But we also had different fathers. However, God brought us together at a very early age to be true brothers in every sense. Never was there a truer brother than John.
A major person in both our lives was John's mother, Edyth Warren Stark. She treated us absolutely equally as her sons without favor, but with wisdom and love which we felt and returned.
John always had the ideas: some good and some bad. I remember one time, early on, when John thought that we could build a bonfire in a place where it wouldn’t create a fire hazard. We soon found out that a metal roof of a garage had a problem. Something about “heat transmission” and “thermodynamics”. He also found out that jumping in bed and pretending to be asleep didn't work well as an alibi.
He graduated from UCLA with an engineering degree while working part time at Lockheed Aircraft, a great accomplishment. Because we were only one grade apart, we attended the same schools. He was always the smarter brother, but I was the (well you get it).
John was a true patriot. When he was in the service, his sharp mind and intellectual curiosity made him a prime candidate for the “oxymoron” of “military intelligence.” Even after returning to civilian life, he was guarding our security. One time after he got out of the service, I told John about a door-to-door salesman had stopped at our house and casually mentioned that U.S planes “could fly so high that the Russians could not shoot them down,” which I didn’t believe. Shortly thereafter, Gary Powers was shot down over Russia in his U-2 spy plane. When I told John the story, he was very upset that I couldn’t identify the man – because this had been a top-secret operation.
John quickly progressed in his profession and moved to various parts of the country, but we always stayed in contact as much as possible. Consider that in those days there was only mail and telephone, not like today with the net and email.
One of his hidden talents was writing entertainingly and humorously about “Ba'bra's” and his adventures. There was bare-boating in the Caribbean and resulting close calls they had with dangerous weather and from his being a novice sailor. Also, their problem returning to Israel from a day trip to Jordan, when they were interrogated for hours by the Jordanians before being released at the crossing bridge just before curfew. (I wonder if he tried the being-asleep -in-bed alibi then). Then there was the trip to the Three Rivers Gorge in China before the dam was completed. And don't forget their many trips to Israel, which became a significant part of their later life.
He will be remembered as the loving husband of Barbara; father of two sons Kenneth and Paul; father of daughter Kelly; and brother-in-law of Linda.
He was a most generous person, who only spoke well of people. I can't ever remember him getting angry or speaking ill of anyone. But it was John's love of God and fellow man that we remember most about him. Always willing to do anything he could to help the church, his family, friends and those in need. We are all the better for having known him.
God bless you brother.
