John D. Yager was born on Aug. 22, 1945 and passed away on Jan. 10, 2024 in Spokane, WA.
John grew up in Polson, MT and then moved to Malta, where he graduated from Malta High School. John then joined the US Navy in 1963, serving three years and earning the rank of AMS-3 (E4). He was stationed in Jackson, FL, Iceland, Sicily and Bainbridge, Maryland.
John attended MSU Northern, earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Industrial Arts. He did his student teaching in Malta, then taught woodworking at Pine Hills in Miles City and at Jefferson High School in Boulder until his retirement.
Summers would find John working on a house, garage, roofing, siding, or kitchen remodel and making cabinets and doing other odd jobs. He was always working in his shop. His passion was woodworking.
When not working in his shop he would be in the basement playing with model trains, which took up most of the room. If you had a question about trains, shop or magazine articles, just ask John and he would have an answer. He collected not just trains, but also T-shirts with weird and funny sayings. He was known for his jokes and storytelling. He will be dearly missed by his friends.
John married his high school sweetheart, Joyce Ohs Popping, in 1994. He is survived by his wife and his sisters Helen (Evan) Lewis, Tomi Kraus, Teresa Lanouette, Ruth Bliss and Deborah Drifus; a stepdaughter, Lynda Popping-Morrow; a stepson, KJ (Amanda) Popping; grandkids Treyton and Alexis Popping; and numerous nieces and nephews whom he loved very much. He was preceded in death by his parents, Donald and Emma Yager, and his son-in-law, John Morrow.
Services are pending. Memorials can be made in John’s name at donor’s choosing.
