On February 18, 2022, John Clifford Lightle of St. Louis, MO died at Cardinal Ritter’s Mary, Queen and Mother Center. He was 83 years old.
Born on June 30, 1938 in Kansas, John was left on the steps of a convent with only a note with his name on it. At the age of 3, he was adopted by the late John Louis and Clara Ann Lightle of Osage City, Kansas. John – called “Slim” and “Lights” by friends – had a love of playing basketball, soccer, and golf, learning, and going to St. Louis Cardinals games.
John attended Cardinal Glennon College (class of 1960) and then Kenrick Seminary (class of 1964). Ordained as a priest in March of 1964 by Cardinal Ritter, he was assigned to parishes across the Archdiocese of St. Louis including: St. Francis de Sales, Most Holy Trinity, St. Peter, St. Timothy, St. Charles Borromeo, and St. Englebert. In 1965, along with other priests and religious, he marched in Selma in solidarity with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. From 1967 to 1972, he served on mission at Cristo Rey Parish in La Paz, Bolivia.
In 1980, John initiated the Cuban Refugee Resettlement Program (later renamed to the Catholic Refugee Office) in St. Louis by forming a partnership between AHORA (American Hispanic Office of Resettlement Assistance) and the USCCB (United States Catholic Conference of Bishops). Through this program, he and others helped resettle refugees by finding housing, employment, health care, teaching English, and welcoming refugees into the American way of life. The program grew to welcome refugees from all over the world including Laos, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Eritrea to the city St. Louis.
In 1982, after leaving the priesthood, John married Adela E. Peugnet and raised his family in South City St. Louis. He became a real estate appraiser, first working for George Garthoefner at Garthoefner and Associates followed by Burghoff Appraisal and Realty Analysis. He served as president of the Real Estate Appraisers of the Midwest in 2000. After he retired from the appraisal industry, John worked for Laclede Taxi Company, where he met people of all types and felt that it was his duty to take care of everyone who stepped into his cab.
In 1985, John was able to meet his birth mother for the first time, the late Lucille Bird-Zammar. The reunion and subsequent renewed relationship had a lasting impact on both mother and son.
Joyful, loving, hilarious, and fiercely compassionate – John was a one-of-a-kind son, brother, father, grandpa, and friend. Being generous was just a part of who he was.
John is survived by his sister Kathy and husband Garrel; his former wife Adela, his children Robert and wife Aracely, Oscar and wife Maddie, Rosanna, Juancarlos and girlfriend Meghan, Luis and wife Andrea, and Ana and husband Stephen; and six grandchildren: Enrique, Natasha, Kassandra, Cleo, Jonathan, and Alba.
Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 2, 2022 at 11:00am St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church located at 3014 Oregon Ave, St. Louis, MO 63118. Reception to follow.
Donations can be made in John’s honor to:
International Institute of St. Louis
Attn: Development
3401 Arsenal St.
St. Louis, MO 63118
Phone: (314) 773-9090
or
Boys and Girls Club of Greater St. Louis
https://www.bgcstl.org/donate/
2901 North Grand Blvd
St. Louis, MO 63107
Phone: (314) 335-8000