John Wesley "Wes" Pepper 1932-2014

John Wesley Keith Pepper "Wes", 82 of Redding, California, passed away of heart failure due to complications from surgery, on September 12, 2014, at the Shasta Regional Hospital in Redding.  He was  born on May 18, 1932 in Lincoln, Kansas to John Prouty and Reita Geraldine (Bishop) Pepper.

Wes moved around in the earlier years of his life with his family, living for a while in Lingle, Wyoming and in Clorado near Colorado Springs.  The family later moved back to the Pepper family farm in Barnard, Kansas and that is where he spent most of his growing up years.

He lived in and around Barnard, off and on, until he jointed the US Air Force in the fall of 1951.  We graduated from Barnard High School in 1950, along with his cousin Lloyd Jackson.  Wes was the older sibling of Duane Pepper, Judy Pepper, Frank Pepper, Gene Pepper, and Cheryl Pepper, all of the Barnard area.  Wes had many Bishop, Wallace, and Jackson cousins in and around Lincoln County, KS.

Wes served in the Korean War and flew 18 bombing missions over Korea as a right gunner on B-29 bombers.  He met and married his wife of 59 years while stationed in Roswell, New Mexico.  Wes and Evelyn (Roork) Pepper had three children there before moving to California in 1962.

Wes worked as a harvester in his teen years in Barnard and traveling up to the Dakotas and down south as well.  He also later worked on missile sites and became a building contractor in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960's.  Wes built solid homes on strong foundations and Steve Jobs, of Apple fame, lived in one of his houses.  It held up nicely in the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and Steve Jobs praised the craftsmanship of John Pepper Properties in the San Francisco Chronicle.

In the late 1990's, Wes and Evelyn followed their son, John, down to San Jose del Cabo, Mexico and have lived there since.  Wes always loved the ocean and enjoyed the beauty and freedom found in that area.

He leaves behind his wife Evelyn; children Teresa, John, and Terri; twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Memorials can be given to the Northern California Veterans Cemetery at 11800 Gas Pint Road, Igo, CA 96047 wher Wes was interred.

Teresa (Hamilton/Pepper) Rust