John Lee Haslam

Services for John Lee Haslam, 83, Lawrence, KS, will be at 1 p.m., Friday, July 15, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3655 W 10th Street, Lawrence, Kansas. There will be two visitations, one at the church prior to the services from 12 noon to 12:45 p.m. and the other, Thursday, July 14, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana Street, Lawrence, KS.

John died peacefully July 8, 2022, surrounded by his family and friends. He was born Jan. 4, 1939, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He graduated from Olympus High School in 1957 and from the University of Utah in 1966 with a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. He spent two years doing post-doctoral work at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He worked for Interx in Lawrence (later a part of Merck), the KU BIOCENTER, and the University of Kansas for more than 30 years. He was a research professor and co-authored papers on rapid rate reactions, enzyme kinetics, pharmaceutical drug formulations and methods of delivery, and was granted a number of patents.

John served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia, 1959-1961, returning to the country where his father served in the US Army Corps of Engineers building airstrips during WWII. John has maintained contact with several people who became members of the church during his mission. He could throw a wicked boomerang.

He married Gale Christiansen in 1966 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She survives of the home. Other survivors include two sons, Jeffery (Angie), Livermore, CA, and Kirk (Debbie), Wichita, and four grandchildren, Amber, Nick, Dillon, and Bethany. He is also survived by his sister, Rosemary Morgan, his brother, Reed (Sherry), both of Salt Lake City, Utah, by nieces and nephews, and one aunt who is over 100 years old.

John was preceded in death by his parents, LeGrand and Mary Berg Haslam, a brother-in-law, Gary Morgan, the rest of his beloved family of aunts and uncles, and a nephew who died too young.

John was bishop of the Lawrence Ward (congregation) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and, later, the Lawrence 2nd Ward, for eight years. After that he became a cub scout den leader, a job he relished. When John was asked to be the Patriarch of the Topeka Kansas Stake (Lawrence-Topeka area), his one regret was that he had to give up cub scouting. He was a patriarch for nearly 30 years.

John was always doing something with his hands; he made decorated leather purses and belts, built wood boxes, turned wood bowls and Christmas decorations; he collected dozens of forged metal puzzles that he solved each Christmas turning his hands black with oxide from the puzzles but leaving the puzzles shiny. He tried his hand at making puzzles, one of which he never figured out. He had very strong hands made so by hours of hoeing and wrestling a rototiller in the garden; he loved beautiful rows of sweet corn and hills of squash, cucumbers, and melons. His favorite flowers were irises followed by daffodils, day lilies and dahlias. When those were gone, sunflowers were unbeatable. John’s hands remained strong all during his long hospitalization; he constantly reached for the bed rails to help the nurses roll him from side to side to prevent bed sores. He wasn’t home this spring to plant the dahlias or the corn and melons; the sunflowers this summer will all be volunteers which could be spectacular blends of what John planted last year.

John loved the Kansas City Royals, the Kansas City Chiefs, and KU basketball easily recognizing each player on the court.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to LDS Charities, the John L . Haslam Fund for Pharmaceutical Chemistry Students at KU, or the charity of your choice in care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana Street, PO Box 1260, Lawrence KS 66044.

The funeral, scheduled to begin at 1:00p CT, will be broadcast via Zoom. Please click the link below to join:   https://zoom.us/j/92210143922?pwd=cjVFT25wblUrNHhXZUVPek90Nm9NUT0
Alternatively, you may join via Zoom client using the information below.
Meeting ID: 922 1014 3922
Passcode: 071522