Obituary: William “John” Kristen III
William “John” Kristen III, a native of Topeka, Kansas, and longtime resident of both St. Louis and Nashville, Tenn., died December 27 at the age of 69 with his wife of 40 years, Sally, by his side.
John and his sister, Karen, grew up as “Air Force brats,” with their father, Bill, serving as a pilot at Forbes Air Force Base in Topeka. When Bill retired in 1964, he and his wife, Mina, moved the family to St. Louis, where Bill took a civil service job. The family joined St. Johns United Church of Christ in South St. Louis County, where John was confirmed. John and his father went on to join Boy Scout Troop 649, which was sponsored by the church. Bill would go on to serve as assistant scout master, while John eventually earned his Eagle Scout badge. John was later selected for the Order of the Arrow, and the father-son duo went on to be part of Explorers Post 649.
After attending college at Washington University and starting work, John got his start in the maritime industry in 1973 with SCNO Barge Lines.
“His very first job was in response to a two-line ad in the paper,” Sally said. “He was living in St. Louis at the time, and it was at SCNO. He started there basically as a barge card recorder in the old manual days when everything was done by hand.”
With that first job, John was hooked on the maritime industry. After his time at SCNO, he moved to Memphis, Tenn., where he worked as a dispatcher for River Line Inc. He later went to work for Agri-Trans/CF Industries in Chicago, then moved with Agri-Trans to St. Louis. From there, he went to work for Robert B. Miller & Associates, where he managed the movement of individual barges. That’s also where he and Sally met. Coincidentally, when Sally and John met, they both drove a Pontiac Grand Prix (John a 1975 and Sally a 1977). The couple was married at St. Johns United Church of Christ in 1984.
While in St. Louis, John worked weekends at Anchor Marine in St. Charles, Mo., assembling pleasure boats. He later worked for Robin Hood Transportation in St. Louis, then moved to New Orleans, where he worked for Dravo Mechling Corp. Finally, in 1988, he accepted a job at Ingram Barge Company, where he remained until his retirement in 2019. In his 31 years with Ingram, John dispatched the company’s liquid barge fleet and its grain barge fleet, then worked in grain sales. His last position with Ingram was general manager of logistics, where he oversaw the company’s barge fleet.
John was preceded in death by his parents and by his brother-in-law, John Palmieri. He is survived by his wife and their “precious fur baby, Sabrina,” his sister and his nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews.
Friends gathered January 15 at the Corner Pub in Bellevue, Tenn., to celebrate John’s life and “raise a toast one last time.” A memorial was also planned in St. Louis on February 3 at St. Johns United Church of Christ, with lunch following at Helen Fitzgerald’s. In lieu of flowers, friends, colleagues and family members were asked to donate to Living Lands and Waters or the Nashville Humane Association.
