NASHVILLE
John Arthur Love passed away on August 17, 2024 at age 72 at Our Hospice of South Central Indiana after living for 18 months with peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
John was born to Dorothy and Arthur Love on April 11, 1952, in New Castle, Pennsylvania. His was a classic rural childhood spent collecting eggs on his grandparent’s farm, roaming the neighborhood from dawn until dusk, and riding his prize-winning pony, Danny. Growing up, he was popular with his classmates, eventually becoming the president of his high school class after a friend selflessly declined to run against him, which would have split the band vote and tragically handed the presidency to the football team. A talented clarinetist, he described accepting an offer of admission to University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music as a highlight of his life.
For a few years after graduating, John taught music at William Henry Harrison High School, where he met his longtime best friend, Dick Arthur. But John had always been possessed by a deep restlessness: a hunger to learn more of himself, of the world, and what lay beyond it. And so he didn’t stay at Harrison long. Indeed, throughout his life he would throw himself into new careers, new hobbies, with a vigor that was breathtaking. He worked in insurance and sales. He became an entrepreneur. He took up racquetball and ambitious home improvement projects (anyone need a privacy fence?) and trained dogs in obedience and Schutzhund. He even took up poker, parlaying that into a brief professional career. Because why not? John did nothing halfway. Ultimately, as part of an indefatigable spiritual journey that consumed the latter part of his life, he earned a master’s degree in theology and discovered his professional passion as a hospice chaplain.
One constant: John was a beloved and loyal son to his mother Dorothy. The two were close; he was her go-to person for advice, quick to assist her with matters large and small.
John was an incredibly loving father to his children, seeing and loving each of them for who they are. He shared his love of music, literature, and the arts with Jessica and found in Johnny a kindred spirit: a man of many varied interests; a fellow restless traveler. For Jimmy, he was a more literal traveling companion, the two of them spending countless hours traipsing around the country (or at least its hotels and hockey rinks).
John adored his wife Lynn, with whom he built a dream home in Nashville, Indiana, complete with a mancave he called the Hermitage, and, yes, a very large privacy fence. While the two of them enjoyed robust discussions of the afterlife, they also focused on the here and now. A favorite pastime was sitting on the couch, holding hands, listening to music, and looking out onto the pond, watching as its entire personality changed with the slightest uptick of wind.
John also became close with Lynn’s three children. He and Evan bonded over a fondness for the contrapuntal genius of Bach (yeah, we don’t understand it either), while he inspired Sean with his grace and magnanimity during chemo.
In addition to his mother (Dorothy Love Ball), wife (Lynn Freeman Love), children by birth (Jessica Love, John Love II, and James Love) and their partners (David Macey, Guilietta Tripoli, and Stephanie Love), John is survived by three children by marriage (Evan Roberts, Natalie Roberts, and Sean Roberts) as well as their spouses (Caitlin Behle, Josh Thomas, and Hannah Roberts). John is also survived by an adopted brother (Robert Ball); three grandchildren (Rosemary Macey, Dorothy Macey, and Matilda Thomas); several nieces, nephews and cousins; and two very good pups (River and Gunnar). John is preceded in death by his father Arthur Love, his stepfather Drew Ball, his paternal grandparents John and Emma Love, his maternal grandparents Florence and Leslie Johnson, and many other very good pups.
An intimate service in John’s honor will be held in his home in Nashville, Indiana on September 21 from 1:00-2:30 pm.
John was, last but not least, a writer, publishing two books as well as numerous lessons and lectures. His work, inspired by his spiritual beliefs and his everyday experiences as a hospice chaplain, was intended to bring comfort to the distressed. He was also a man who liked to have a plan. Who needed to have a plan. So let’s give him the final word here. Let’s let him comfort us with one of his meditation mantras, as he would have wanted to. “In-Breath: God is with me, I am safe. Out-Breath: God is with me, I am loved.”
Arrangements are under the direction of Bond-Mitchell Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.BondMitchellFuneralHome.com
