John (Jack) Griffith Atherton

John Griffith (Jack) Atherton of Emporia died on Sunday, February 19, 2023 at St. Francis Hospital in Wichita.  He was 96.

Jack was born on April 3, 1926 in Emporia, Kansas the son of Oliver Tudor and Helen Jones Atherton.  He married Anne Howell on August 29, 1960 in Lexington, Tennessee.  She survives.

Surviving family members include: wife Anne Atherton of Emporia; sons, David (Anne) Atherton of Salina, Kansas Stephen (Kelly) Atherton of Olpe, and; daughters, Carolyn Atherton of Emporia, and Rebecca Atherton of Sequim, Washington; grandchildren, Brynne Atherton, Olivia Atherton, John “Jack” Atherton, Thomas Atherton, and Michael Atherton.

He is preceded in death by his parents and sisters Dorothy Rissler, and Elizabeth Ann Barber.

Jack attended West Point, then the University of Kansas, receiving his law degree in 1953. He began practicing in Hutchinson, Kansas, but returned home to Emporia as soon as the opportunity arose. He practiced law in Emporia until retiring in 2000.  He served in the United States Army during World War II and the Korean War.  He was a member of the First Congregational Church.

He had many passions in his life, including horses, his farms, hunting, and woodworking but above all, his family.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, February 25, 2023 at the First Congregational Church, Emporia.  Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. until service time.  Burial will follow at Maplewood Memorial Lawn Cemetery with military honors by Ball-McColm Post #5 American Legion and Lowry-Funston Post #1980 Veterans of Foreign Wars.  Memorial contributions to the Lyon County Historical Society or the First Congregational Church can be sent in care of Roberts-Blue-Barnett Funeral Home, P.O. Box #175, Emporia, Kansas 66801.