John F. Ott, age 64, of 828 Illinois Ave. SW, Huron, died Wednesday, January 12, 2005, at the De Smet Memorial Hospital at De Smet. His memorial service will be at 2:00 PM Saturday, January 15, at the Welter Funeral Home with Rev. Lew Christensen officiating. There will be no visitation. John Frederick Ott was born on February 10, 1940, to Chester and Perl (Coates) Ott at Cleveland, OH. As a small child he moved with his parents to Olmsted Falls, Ohio, where he attended school through his Junior year of high school. While there he earned All-State high school honors as a baritone saxophone player. The family moved to Sanford, Fl, where John graduated from Sanford High School in 1958. After graduation he attended Case Institute of Technology at Cleveland for 2 years, then transferred to Rollins College at Winter Park, FL, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree and Masters of Arts Degree in Teaching. While working for his bachelors degree he was a member of the drama department and John starred in a theater production that also starred (later in movies) Dana Ivey. On June 19, 1965, John married Arlene Henkel at Lehigh Acres, Florida. John then began his teaching career as a high school math and science teacher at schools in Florida, Georgia, Vermont, and Minnesota. In 1975, he took one year off from teaching to attend Alexandria Vocational Technical School at Alexandria, MN, where he earned a degree in Aviation Electronics. After graduation in 1976, he worked as an international field engineer for King Radio Aircraft Electronics traveling to many countries all over the world. In 1978, he came to South Dakota to resume teaching in high schools until 1983. Under a program sponsored by the Department of Defense, he worked for the U.S. Navy as a math teacher teaching sailors aboard 3 different naval ships. From 1985-1986 he taught high school math at St. Paul, MN. He them moved to Alexandria, MN, where he worked as a radio announcer for KIKV Radio until 1989, and also as a school-bus driver for the public school system until 1996. In 1993, John earned a 6-year degree from Mankato State University and continued to teach as a substitute teacher. From 1996-2000, he owned and operated a home based business. In 2001, he began working for the Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, and in 2002, he earned his engineers card. In 2004, he began working for the DM&E Railroad. He was a life-long model-railroad and model-ship enthusiast, painted in watercolors, woodworking, needlepoint, loved cats, held a private pilots license, and built architectural quality model buildings and bridges. He had a life-long love of music, playing the saxophone, plus a rich baritone quality singing voice. He is survived by his wife, Arlene of Arvilla, ND; 1 son, Alan Ott of Huron and his wife, Melissa who lives at Hector, MN, while Alan moves about in his work with the railroad; 1 daughter, Gwynneth (Vincent) Ott of Hibbing, MN; 3 grandchildren, Jennifer Ott, Dean Ott, and Dominic Ott; his mother, Pearl Ott of The Villages, FL; and 1 brother, William (Carolyn) Ott of Germantown, MD. He was preceded in death by his father, Chester, in July of 2003.