It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, James Christopher Sprehe. Dad passed away early Tuesday morning, May 31^st, the day after Memorial Day, at the age of 77.

Chris was born on December 28, 1944, in Oklahoma City, and often told us tales of his idyllic childhood in the Fifties surrounded by family and plentiful neighbors at 2212 NW 19^th Street in the house where he was born. Chris was the son of Stella Marie McGuire Sprehe (d) and Francis Louis Sprehe (d), and the sixth child of a family of nine: Paul Francis (d), Daniel Joseph (d), John Timothy, David Louis, Stella Marie Deal, Stephen Thomas (d), Robert Andrew, and Samuel Edward. Being one of eight boys certainly taught Chris how to hold his own, and his sister Stella was a guiding inspiration for compassion his entire life. His father Francis taught him the value of hard work and ingenuity as he was an engineer (graduating from Oklahoma University in Mechanical Engineering at the age of 19) for Boardman for 40 years, designing steel fabrications for pressure vessels such as water tanks, and later bridges. Francis took side jobs for architects to support his large family, but he still made time to take his children to the showroom on the weekends to play on the fire engines they had displayed. Dad recalled going to a lot every year to get a Christmas tree, and Francis building a sturdy tree stand that was symbolic of his stature as a pillar of the family. Dad’s first memories were of receiving a scooter for Christmas and riding down 19^th Street, and smelling the delicious peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies his mother Stella would make throughout the years. His mother Stella was perhaps the biggest influence on him as she taught him unconditional love and supported all of her children through their ups and downs. As the other pillar of the family, grandma Stella amazingly remembered and took the time to send all of her 33 grandchildren a birthday card with a handwritten note and some money well into her nineties. Francis and Stella’s faith in the Catholic Church also led them to send all of their nine children to Catholic school (in a state that was predominantly Baptist), a promise grandma Stella had made to her mother, which came as an additional financial sacrifice for the family.

Dad attended Hawthorne School for kindergarten before attending Rosary Elementary School and then Bishop McGuiness High School. He had many, many neighborhood friends who became classmates after years of unrestricted access to each others’ yards in those days without fences. Many of the families in the neighborhood, the Banes, Kelleys, Khourys, Loves, Luetkemeyers, Minnises, O’Briens, and Van Horns, also had large numbers of children and the different generations celebrated many holidays, birthdays, and milestones over the years. Even though it was only a 4-block walk to Rosary, grandma Sprehe asked the city to put a light at Pennsylvania and 19^th to ensure the safe passage of the masses of students with 30 students to a grade. Their boundaries were from May Avenue to Classen Boulevard, between 16^th and 23^rd Streets. They would jump up the escalators at the mall and buy fresh popcorn, play hide-and-go-seek, and of course, the basketball goal at the Sprehe house was a favorite. Francis would build giant kites from his blueprint papers and the swing in the backyard was constantly occupied.

With a difference of 25 years between the eldest and youngest Sprehe child, it wasn’t until dad’s sister Stella was married that all 9 children were together. Surely a proud and historic moment for their parents, dad unfortunately somehow missed the infamous Deal/Sprehe basketball showdown. Dad would have been a junior that year and nearing the peak of his athletic prowess. He had been the starting left end for his Rosary Rams 8^th grade football team which won the state championship, and played for his Rosary Rockets basketball team which won the state championship in 8^th grade as well. He also played basketball in high school, but he truly excelled in track as he placed 3^rd in the mile in the Catholic League state championships his sophomore year, and then won the mile his junior and senior years, in addition to competing in the long jump. Dad also started to demonstrate his exceptional writing skills as he contributed to the monthly paper and eventually became an editor for the Chi Roan (the  school’s yearbook) and helped design the layout with Sister Janice. He was involved with The Queen’s Players drama group, the Key Club, Student Council, and was elected vice-president of his senior class of 150 students. Dad washed dishes during the school year to earn some spending money, and worked for his father in the estimating department in the summer. He served on the Young Christian leadership team as well as attending mass with his family on Sundays (serving as an altar boy too), but still found time to frequent one of the 3 movie theaters within walking distance on Saturday mornings. Music was also an early passion singing in the choir in grade school, frequenting the Wilcox record store, and listening to KMOX to catch the St. Louis games as well.

Dad continued his Catholic education at Rockhurst University (then Rockhurst College and still all-male), joining his good friend Johnny Bane in taking the train to Kansas City. He loved the Jesuit tradition of education emphasizing philosophy (a required minor for all students), learning to question, and seeking knowledge. He excelled in creative writing, and had a continued love for Chaucer and Shakespeare. He made new lifelong friends and continued his involvement in athletics and other social activities. At a Halloween party his sophomore year, he met the true love of his life, Donna Soden Zahner. Donna was a year younger and studying at the new Avila College (now Avila University), and the two had a formal double-date before their second date at the Homecoming dance that January which led to a deeper relationship. Mom showed dad around her city, and they explored new places for him such as Putsch’s (now Classic Cup), Winstead’s, Fairyland Theater, Municipal Stadium, Boulevard Drive-In, Starlight Theater, and Swope Park. During dad’s senior year, mom moved to Dallas to study at The University of Dallas, and seemingly the relationship had ended as dad moved back to Oklahoma City to work at Boardman after graduating in 1966 with a BA in English Literature. However, dad came back to KC in January 1967 to serve as best man for his friend Frank Carey’s wedding, and mom was in the wedding party as well, and as they say, the rest is history. Dad went back to Oklahoma City and picked out the engagement ring with his mother, and when he returned to KC for Ralph Schweickart’s wedding in February, he proposed to our mother in the car, asking her father Victor Zahner for her hand in marriage at her childhood home at 1001 West 57^th Street.

As the Vietnam war raged on, dad knew that he would be drafted as the Naval recruiting office had contacted him. He chose to enlist and in March 1967, he went to Newport, Rhode Island for 6 weeks of OCS (Officer Candidate School). He returned to Kansas City, and on July 22, 1967, Donna and Chris Sprehe were officially married. They set off the next day for Glynco Naval Air Station in Georgia where he completed 3 months of training for the Combat Information Center (communications, radar) and Air Control School. The young couple was then flown to Italy where dad was stationed in Gaeta, Italy. After some tough adjustments getting used to their new environment and having their first child, Patrick, they began to develop some more lifelong relationships with other young couples and families serving abroad, and started to enjoy the country when dad had time off. With a 3-year commitment, dad figured he had a good chance to stay in Italy, but alas, he received his pink notice from the Navy and was called to duty in Vietnam. They flew back to NY where they had left their car (flying to Rome), drove to KC, then OKC, and then Vallejo, California, where dad had 6 weeks of ASPB (Assault Support Patrol Boat) training before mom drove him to the airport at 3 in the morning to fly to Alaska, then Guam, and finally to Saigon.

Although dad often talked about serving his country and his pride for America, he never really told us any specific details about his time during the war. He often attended Vietnam veterans reunions around the country and made many new friends sharing his experiences. When we found his Bronze Star, we also found his commendation from the President. A few excerpts: “For meritorious service while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in armed conflict against the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong communist aggressors in the Republic of Vietnam from June 1969 to June 1970. While serving as Chief Staff Officer and Operations Officer, River Assault Division One Five Three, Lieutenant (junior grade) SPREHE participated in one hundred combat operations along the Vam Co Tay river in Operation GIANT SLINGSHOT, a massive blockade designed to interdict and destroy enemy supply routes leading into Saigon from Cambodia… On 29 July 1969, he was patrol officer of a five boat patrol engaged in a joint operation with United States Army, Vietnamese Regional Forces and United States helicopter gunships. During an eight hour period in which his units were constantly subjected to enemy ground fire while beached in the kill zone, Lieutenant (junior grade) SPREHE coordinated air strikes, provided cover fire for friendly ground troops, carried out two medical evacuations, and conducted numerous troop insertions and extractions. In November 1969, he assumed the duties as Chief Staff Officer of River Assault Division One Five Three… he planned and executed operations involving Vietnamese Regional Forces, United States Marines, United States Navy SEALs, and his own units. Lieutenant (junior grade) SPREHE’s professionalism, courage under fire and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”

Dad came home to Kansas City and his family in June 1970. He took positions at 1^st National Bank and Valley View State Bank as a bank officer to support his growing family and purchase their first home. Their second child, Shannon, was born in 1971, and then he accepted a position at Hardin Stockton Realtors, managing their Liberty and North Oak offices with 30-35 real estate agents before opening their Platte County office. He also partnered to handle the brokerage of selling and leasing properties with LJ Baer to earn extra revenue as his father had done, and he also created a real estate partnership with his siblings to provide for their aging parents. Hardin Stockton had become Coldwell Banker and he began to manage their Prairie Village office at 75^th and Mission. Their third child, Adam, was born in 1979, and their fourth child, Nick, was born in 1981. Just like his mother and father, dad and mom made the decision to have all 4 of their children attend Catholic school throughout elementary school and high school. In August 1985, dad decided that it was time for him to use his 15 years in the real estate industry and start his own executive search firm, The Christopher Group. Although it was a risk and an extremely difficult transition for dad and the family, dad knew it was an opportunity he had to explore before he reached his fifties. Dad wanted to provide the best life possible for his children and he was willing to do whatever sacrifices it took to make it a reality. This included one last major life decision in June 1992 when he and our mother moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, in part to expose their young sons to the natural beauty of the mountains and ocean. We had taken multiple trips a year to Colorado to ski in the winter, or horseback ride and hike in the summer (as part of another investment in a condominium), and they wanted to be near that year-round. When the boys had finished high school, they made one last move to Asheville, North Carolina, where they had planned to spend the rest of their days, and dad loved riding his motorcycle on the Blue Ridge Parkway, capping off the evening with a good cigar, music on the deck, and a fire inside.

Our father gave us many, many beautiful memories. Always involved in our sports endeavors, whether playing soccer, basketball, swimming, competing in track, or coaching and supporting from the sidelines and at practices. Dad was an excellent tennis player well into his fifties, developing a love for skiing in college and later golf (like his father), and he encouraged us all to value our physical health. He was an avid reader, devouring both fiction and nonfiction, sending us clippings from newspapers, and inspiring all of us to have a love for language and writing. He was constantly listening to music (in the car or at home), singing in the choir at church or to himself, sharing new Christmas music with us that he had discovered every year (especially around the fire he enjoyed building), playing the piano or keyboard (could play by ear), and playing the guitar as he had done back in his hootenanny days until a hand injury hindered him. Dad developed a real love for bluegrass and Celtic music while living in Asheville and even attempted to pick up the mandolin. Like his father, dad had found peace in gardening later in life, and he was a fantastic cook (homemade beef jerky, peach ice cream, double-fried chicken, chili, and ginger snaps to name a few favorites), regularly smoking chicken and ribs for the Franciscan Friars of St. Francis of Assisi in Raleigh, or making savory soups for his friends here in KC as he was always generous with his culinary creations. Dad loved to host gatherings and all were welcome in the Sprehe home. Playing board games, cards, Backgammon, cribbage, or a game of pool, he took on all comers, family or friends. He had the love of all of our many family dogs over the years and they were his faithful companions until the end. Dad taught us to value family and to stick together, to honor our parents and respect our elders, while at the same time still question the status quo and be willing to be unconventional and uncomfortable. He showed us how to graciously serve others and work diligently towards making the world a better place. He was an incredibly hard worker who really could do everything.

But the two most indelible and lasting gifts our father gave to us were his unquestioned faith and infallible devotion to our mother. Over the years, he had been a Eucharistic minister and volunteered with our mom in Stephen Ministries to help people in crises receive the support they needed. To see him serve our mom through all of the hardships of the past 15 years has been genuinely moving. Caring for her when he was physically able, visiting her every day bearing small gifts of affection, and wanting her to have the best possible care no matter what the cost or sacrifice has been truly humbling. He picked up his cross every day as long as he could to be there for her, even though she couldn’t communicate with him through words. His faith in a higher power and belief in a better world gave him the strength to carry on, if only to serve our mother, until his heart wore out.

James Christopher Sprehe is survived by his wife, Donna Zahner Sprehe, and his children Patrick Zahner Sprehe (Heejung Lee), Elizabeth Shannon Hurn (Christopher Gene Hurn), Adam McGuire Sprehe (Karen Balaoing Sprehe), and Nicholas Soden Sprehe. He has nine grandchildren, Che Victor Sprehe, Julianna Grace Hurn, Reilly Thomas Hurn, Sophia Alissa Balaoing Sprehe, Aubrey Alexis Balaoing Sprehe, Connor Alastair Balaoing Sprehe, Callista Alora Balaoing Sprehe, and Autumn Cassandra Sprehe.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectively requests donations be sent to:

Catholic Charities of Kansas City - St. Joseph - https://catholiccharities-kcsj.org

Vietnam Veterans Of America, Kansas City (Chapter 317) - http://www.vva317.org

Friday, July 29^th

9:30 AM – Visitation

10:30 AM – Funeral Mass

Queen of the Holy Rosary

7023 W. 71^st Street

Overland Park, KS 66204

(913) 432-4616

www.queenoftheholyrosary.org

facebook.com/queenoftheholyrosary

The services will be livestreamed on Queen of the Holy Rosary’s Facebook page.

Saturday, July 30^th

2:00 – 5:00 PM – Celebration Of Life

The Well

7421 Broadway

Kansas City, MO 64114

waldowell.com

(816) 361-1700

A Zoom link will be created to share some words from the celebration.

All are welcome.