John Fred Radtke

John Fred Radtke, 84, of Merritt, NC, passed away on March 13, 2023, following a brief illness.

Born on May 27, 1938, to Lowell and Eileen (Schultz) Radtke in Sagle, Idaho.  He spent his teenage years in Sanborn, MN before moving to Chicago to start his career in Electrical Engineering.  It wasn’t all work in Chicago though.  He met his wife of 62 years, Travia, while taking dance lessons at Arthur Murray School of Dance.

Shortly after they married, they moved to NJ where John developed his love of sailing.  He assembled his first boat, a Robin, in the backyard and sailed it on the Delaware River for its maiden voyage.  More boats followed, each getting a bit bigger, until he discovered bigger boats needed more work, so he scaled back to a Com-Pac 27.

John enjoyed learning new things and sharing his knowledge. He taught youth sailing classes at the Shark River Yacht Club and was ever so proud of them when they took first place in races.  He was very active at the Shark River Yacht Club and proudly served as its Commodore for 3 years.

To get more sailing time in, while still helping others, John joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary and was active with them for 22 years, reaching the rank of Lieutenant.  He even talked his wife into joining the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

When John and his wife retired, they moved to Merritt, NC.  One of the biggest selling points for the property they bought was that it came with a boat slip.  But first, they had to get the boat from NJ to NC, so they undertook a three-week sailing adventure down the intracoastal waterway.  Little did he or his wife know, the kids had a wager going about which one of them would need to go and pick up their mother as she was a golfer more than a sailor.  However, no bets were paid off as she made the entire trip and enjoyed it.

Patrolling with the Coast Guard Auxiliary wasn’t enough though, so he joined the volunteer Florence-Whortonsville Fire Dept.  He was active there for 15 years and eventually became Captain.

John will be remembered fondly for his volunteering, his patience, and love of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

John was preceded in death by his wife, Travia (Sutton) Radtke, his parents, and brothers, James and Jeff.  He is survived by his daughters, Travia Cyr and Sandra Rodaligo; his son, John Radtke Jr; his brothers, Stanley, Gary, Richard, and Donnie Radtke; his sister, Jerrine Kettner; and 4 grandsons.

His viewing will be held from 5 to 8 p.m., Friday, March 17 ^th at Daniels-Sadler Funeral Home Chapel.

In lieu of flowers the family suggested memorial contributions be made to Florence-Whortonsville Volunteer Fire Department.

Thanks to everyone who made his life better.