John Paul Strong was born in Salina, KS, June 29,1941 to Vernon and Alta Woodring Strong. The family lived in various Kansas towns and moved to Phillipsburg when John was in the 5th grade. He accepted Jesus as Savior and joined First Christian Church as a teenager. He graduated from PHS in 1959, from Phillips U., Enid OK in 1964, and took grad classes at Ft. Hays State.

John entered the US Army with a 2-year obligation in September of 1966. He became a Social Work/psychology Specialist serving at Ft. Dix, NJ and the NATO base SHAPE, Belgium. He worked in Kansas City and St Louis, MO for the US government and later for Greyhound. Greyhound transferred him to Des Moines, IA the summer of 1985. He had a salaried position in Greyhound offices. Later he worked at Sears Credit and for 2 years had a "temporary contract position" at Meredith, publisher of magazines including Better Homes and Gardens.

John is survived by many cousins and by his partner Hongnhung Vi (pronounced Hong-nung as second letter h in her name is silent). She came to Iowa with her family as refugees from the Vietnam War. They met at a dance; she was already a US citizen. They enjoyed country dancing at Denny Arthurs Country Club, Miss Kitties and Wednesday nights at the Baldwin-Patterson American Legion Post in Des Moines.

John chose to have no funeral, direct cremation and burial in the Iowa Veterans Cemetery near Des Moines.