Johnny (John) Wayne Hartung

Posted 9/16/08

Dec. 29, 1946 - Sept. 11, 2008

Powell native Johnny (John) Wayne Hartung, 61, died Thursday, Sept. 11 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Menlo Park, Calif.

Graveside services and burial will be at Crown Hill Cemetery in Powell at a …

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Johnny (John) Wayne Hartung

Posted

Dec. 29, 1946 - Sept. 11, 2008

Powell native Johnny (John) Wayne Hartung, 61, died Thursday, Sept. 11 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Menlo Park, Calif.

Graveside services and burial will be at Crown Hill Cemetery in Powell at a date to be announced after shipment of the body from California.

Officiating will be John's sister, Rev. Gina Hartung. Chairs will be provided.

Johnny Wayne Hartung was born at the old hospital in Powell on Dec. 29, 1946, to Lonnie Gene Hartung and Nona Belle Hartung. He went to kindergarten and Powell schools, graduating from Powell High School in 1965. He played football and was a wrestler.

In December of 1965, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and completed basic training at Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was proud to be a Marine, and after a short leave at home, he was deployed to Vietnam from Camp LeJeune in North Carolina.

He worked in the laundry at DaNang, Vietnam. The following December a bullet exploded while he was taking clothes out of the dryer, and it went into his arm at the elbow and traveled up the center of the arm to the bone. The bullet was removed at the military hospital; during his hospital stay he received 28 shots of penicillin, and the Prime Minister of Vietnam visited him, shook his hand and gave him two Vietnamese dolls, which are still in the possession of the family.

His duties in Vietnam included carrying radios in the field and receiving and caring for U.S. troop casualties.

After his discharge, he became an auto parts salesman at a Powell garage. He married, but never had any children.

On Aug. 31, 1991, he married Tracie L. Radcliff in Calfiornia, and he became a truck driver. They lived in Hayward, Calif. He retired when he was diagnosed with diabetes and required insulin. His illness lasted several years until fluid could not be controlled.

Family members are comforted at the memory of John's neat sense of humor that gathered friends easily. His mother will always remember when he called, saying, “Hello, Mother of mine.” He collected guns and knives and dearly loved dogs. Jackson, a dachshund, survives him.

Survivors include his wife, Tracie; his mother, Nona B. Allen of Powell; a sister, Rev. Gina L. Hartung of Great Falls, Mont.; mother-in-law, Carlean Radcliff of Mountain View, Calif.; brothers-in-law, Michael Radcliff of Los Angeles, Calif., and Mark Radcliff of Mountain View, Calif.; aunts, Marilyn J. McDonnell and Arlene A. Dedman, both of Billings, Mont.; a very special cousin/brother, Allen C. Dedman, of Billings; and special friends, Irene Crawford of Belt, Mont., and David and Terri Wynn of San Jose, Calif.

John's cousin, Allen C. Dedman, made many trips to California to see him and take care of him. They were “brothers.” There are many cousins who survive him.

Cards may be sent in care of 224 S. Mountain View St., Powell, WY 82435. Thompson Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Dec. 29, 1946 - Sept. 11, 2008

Powell native Johnny (John) Wayne Hartung, 61, died Thursday, Sept. 11 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Menlo Park, Calif.

Graveside services and burial will be at Crown Hill Cemetery in Powell at a date to be announced after shipment of the body from California.

Officiating will be John's sister, Rev. Gina Hartung. Chairs will be provided.

Johnny Wayne Hartung was born at the old hospital in Powell on Dec. 29, 1946, to Lonnie Gene Hartung and Nona Belle Hartung. He went to kindergarten and Powell schools, graduating from Powell High School in 1965. He played football and was a wrestler.

In December of 1965, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and completed basic training at Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was proud to be a Marine, and after a short leave at home, he was deployed to Vietnam from Camp LeJeune in North Carolina.

He worked in the laundry at DaNang, Vietnam. The following December a bullet exploded while he was taking clothes out of the dryer, and it went into his arm at the elbow and traveled up the center of the arm to the bone. The bullet was removed at the military hospital; during his hospital stay he received 28 shots of penicillin, and the Prime Minister of Vietnam visited him, shook his hand and gave him two Vietnamese dolls, which are still in the possession of the family.

His duties in Vietnam included carrying radios in the field and receiving and caring for U.S. troop casualties.

After his discharge, he became an auto parts salesman at a Powell garage. He married, but never had any children.

On Aug. 31, 1991, he married Tracie L. Radcliff in Calfiornia, and he became a truck driver. They lived in Hayward, Calif. He retired when he was diagnosed with diabetes and required insulin. His illness lasted several years until fluid could not be controlled.

Family members are comforted at the memory of John's neat sense of humor that gathered friends easily. His mother will always remember when he called, saying, “Hello, Mother of mine.” He collected guns and knives and dearly loved dogs. Jackson, a dachshund, survives him.

Survivors include his wife, Tracie; his mother, Nona B. Allen of Powell; a sister, Rev. Gina L. Hartung of Great Falls, Mont.; mother-in-law, Carlean Radcliff of Mountain View, Calif.; brothers-in-law, Michael Radcliff of Los Angeles, Calif., and Mark Radcliff of Mountain View, Calif.; aunts, Marilyn J. McDonnell and Arlene A. Dedman, both of Billings, Mont.; a very special cousin/brother, Allen C. Dedman, of Billings; and special friends, Irene Crawford of Belt, Mont., and David and Terri Wynn of San Jose, Calif.

John's cousin, Allen C. Dedman, made many trips to California to see him and take care of him. They were “brothers.” There are many cousins who survive him.

Cards may be sent in care of 224 S. Mountain View St., Powell, WY 82435. Thompson Funeral Home is assisting the family.

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