John Vance Cline, 88, of Independence, Missouri, passed away on Sunday, April 25, 2021.  Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, April 30^th at Royer Funeral Home in Oak Grove, MO; burial with Military Honors will follow in Sni Mills Cemetery, Oak Grove.  Memorial contributions may be given to Wayside Waifs.

John was born March 17, 1933 in Oak Grove, Missouri, the son of Jason M. and Mary E. (Hunt) Cline.  He was the youngest of 8 children – 4 boys and 4 girls.  John attended Sni Mills grade school from 1939 to 1947 in a one-room school.  He was always proud of not missing a day of school during the 1^st grade having had to walk to school daily – 2 miles each way.  He then attended Oak Grove High School, graduating in 1951.  John enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in May 1952 and served for 21 years.  His overseas tours took him to England, France, Germany, Thailand, and Korea.  He spent a total of 11 years overseas.  His stateside duties included the states of California, Wyoming, Alabama, Louisiana, and Missouri.  While serving in Thailand during the Vietnam War (1969), John was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.  Later in 1973, he was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal.  After retiring from the Air Force in 1973, John went to work for the U.S. Government as a civil service employee working in the logistics division at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base.  When Richards-Gebaur came under downsizing due to base closings, he was transferred to Fort Leavenworth Army Post, where he worked at Munson Army Hospital until his retirement in June 1994.  Between military service and civil service, he worked 42 years for the U.S. Government.  Among his hobbies were cars, travel, Nascar, and Sprint car races.  As a car enthusiast, John collected and restored Mustangs and VW Beetles.  He attended numerous car shows and won several trophies.  A story John liked to tell was about selling a 1966 VW Beetle that had won a first-place trophy.  He advertised it in the Hemming Motor News Magazine for collector cars, which is read all over the U.S. by car collectors.  John received a call from a man in Michigan and asked if he could drive down over the weekend to see it.  On Saturday around noon, the man and his wife arrived.  He looked it over and drove it around the block and said, “I’ll buy it”.  He had brought a cashier’s check, so the title was signed over to him and away they drove to Michigan.  Three days later, the man called and said, “This is the man that purchased your V.W.”  At that instant, John’s only thought was that the engine blew up on the way to Michigan and he wanted his money back.  But instead, he said, “I want you to know how happy I am with the V.W.  We just love it.”  So that made John feel really good. 

Another story he liked to tell was the Corvette story.  While he and his friend, Wilma, were on vacation in August 1997, after touring Michigan, Canada, Niagara Falls, and Washington D.C., they decided to visit Bowling Green, Kentucky on their way home.  After arriving, they visited the Corvette factory and then drove over to see the Corvette Museum.  At the museum, they had a new 1997 red Corvette that had been a test car and had been donated to the museum by General Motors.  The museum was selling raffle tickets for $10 each and the drawing would be held on Labor Day Weekend.  John immediately purchased a ticket and asked Wilma if she was going to buy one.  She said, “No, I never win nothing”.  Well, after some coaching, he finally got her to buy a ticket.  On Saturday night of Labor Day weekend, after attending the Santa Cali Gon Days in Independence, they came home and saw a message on Wilma’s phone recorder.  It was from the Corvette Museum saying she had won the Corvette and to please call them!  This was a very special Corvette as it was one of the first 7 built to be used as test cars, since this was the first body style change in 13 years.  It was also the only one saved of the first 7 built.  After testing (18,000 miles), it was run through the Corvette factory for complete restoration and donated to the Corvette Museum for the purpose of selling to make money for the museum.  More than 20,000 tickets were sold and on Labor Day weekend, the drawing was held.  The ticket was drawn by 85-year-old Ms. Elfi Arkus-Duntov, who was the wife of the late Chief Engineer and was known as the Father of the Corvette.  With the history of this car, it was considered to be a collector’s car.  After driving home from Bowling Green, the car was advertised in the Hemmings Motor News and sold to a Corvette collector for $5000 above the sticker price.  It was also the first new body style to be sold to the public which was serial #007.

John was also a race fan.  He attended numerous Nascar races including going to the Daytona 500 five times, and the Talladega 500, Rocking Ham 500, and the Indianapolis 500 one time each.  In addition to Nascar races, John was also a fan of the World of Outlaws Sprint cars.  He would take a week’s vacation and attend the Nationals every August in Knoxville, Iowa.  He went to Nationals for 18 years in a row (1986-2003).

Travel was another thing John loved to do.  He had been in all 50 states as well as numerous European and Asian countries.  He had taken 2 Alaskan and 12 Caribbean cruises, taking him to numerous Caribbean countries as well as South America.  John had been to Mexico, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, England, Holland, Luxembourg, Korea, Thailand, Guam, Puerto Rico, St. Barts, Antigua, Martinique, Grenada, St. Thomas, Barbados, Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Grand Cayman, Aruba, Curacao, Isle De Margarita, Dominica, Princess Cays, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Chile, and Peru.

John is survived by his three sons, James, Clifford, and Jeffrey Cline; daughter-in-law, Robin Cline; two grandchildren, Jonathan Cline and Nicole Gunselman; two great-grandchildren, Lincoln and Larson Gunselman; and one sister, Opal Green.  He was preceded in death by his parents; three sisters, Ruby, Pauline, and Doris; three brothers, Lowell, Earl, and Venton; and long-time companion, Wilma Perrin.

Arrangements:  Royer Funeral Home, Oak Grove, MO   816-690-4441