John Phillips Boots

John Philip Boots, 82, passed away peacefully on December 15, 2025, at his home on Big Sugarbush Lake in Ogema, Minnesota with family by his side.

Born on October 12, 1943 in Tucson, Arizona to Kenneth and Julie (Clauson) Boots, John was raised in Wabasha, Minnesota on the banks of the Mississippi River. A river ran through his childhood and young adulthood and provided endless entertainment, hobbies, and employment. His years on the river gave him lifelong survival skills as well as a continuing love for the outdoors, hunting, and fishing. It was on the Mississippi that he fell in love with the Grumman Sport boat, and the desire to own one followed him to the banks of Big Sugarbush Lake, where he finally fulfilled his dream of owning one. He even bought a 5 horsepower outboard motor for it, planned to give it a new coat of camouflage paint, and hunt ducks from it.

Jennifer and Mary-Catherine have fond memories of John's hunting and cooking prowess. They grew up on venison pies, rabbit and squirrel stews, fish soups, and French bread. He spent every weekend of every hunting season, from black powder rifle to bow and arrow, providing not only food for his family but countless hours of time spent in the natural world. Not only was he a hunter, but he was a steward of nature as well, reestablishing habitat for loons, rescuing bald eagles, and planting White Pines.

Following graduation from Wabasha High School, John attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, earning a B.A.in English in 1965. Eventually he went on to receive an M.A. and a Ph.D in English from the University of Chicago.

Travel was an early value, so it was no surprise that his teaching career began with a Fulbright Teaching award to Fergusson College in Poona, India. However, it was while an instructor at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa that he met and fell in love with a young French teacher, Justine Broberg, who became his lifelong traveling companion. Married on June 8, 1968, they began a romance that continued until her death in 2024.

Freshly married and teaching at Luther, John was drafted into the U.S. Army at the age of 25 in late 1968. By Christmas of 1969 he was serving in combat in Viet Nam. After a year serving his tour of duty, he and Justine embarked on a whirlwind, romantic tour of Greece and Turkey in a green VW bug. There were sleeping bags and a tent that was often pitched in goat pastures amid the ruins of Classical temples. They were certainly seasoned travelers of the world. After this epic trip, they returned home to Chicago so that John could continue his studies in Medieval literature.

John taught English, as well as invaluable life lessons, to students at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma (with one year stints in Mulsjø, Sweden and Dalian, China) and at Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School in Joplin, Missouri until his retirement in 2008. He is remembered as a masterful, award-winning, life changing teacher, respected and loved by his students, who admired his intellect, his commitment, and his ability to spin fascinating stories, especially that of Black Bart. He taught complicated authors, like Homer, Dante and Faulkner, to young minds, introducing them to the world of classic and modern texts alike. John was certainly an enthusiastic student and teacher of the written word.

It was in their retirement on the shores of Big Sugarbush Lake, Ogema, Minnesota that John and Justine built their log home that was the scene of many happy family gatherings that provided children, in-laws, grandchildren, and siblings with lakeside fun. Always interested in fine handcraft, John won a gold medal in Norwegian knifemaking from Vesterheim Museum in 1995. But in retirement he finally had time to fully pursue his varied hobbies and passions, and taught himself craft after craft for personal use, gifting, and sales. Here he perfected sourdough bread baking and mastered the art of ash basket weaving, created cedar canoes, wooden canoe and kayak paddles, custom walking sticks, woven landing nets, and one final and all-consuming passion - restoring antique bamboo fishing rods. Additionally, John was a collector. Axe heads, Zuni fetishes, brass animals, duck and shore bird decoys decorated their cabin's shelves and window ledges. His library was expansive, ranging from ancient Greek and Latin texts to books about fly-fishing and canoe-making.

Anyone who had John as a family member or friend came away a more authentic person who recalled their times in his company with great delight and his demise with a deep sense of loss.

John was preceded in death by his parents and his wife Justine Boots. He is survived by daughters Jennifer (John) Boots-Marshall, Mary-Catherine Boots-Sacra; grandchildren Joel and Owen Boots-Marshall and Alice Sacra; siblings Linda (Owen) Christianson, Norma Refsal, and Paul Boots (Katryn Gabrielson), as well as 9 nieces and nephews and 4 grand nieces and nephews.

In remembrance of John P. Boots please join us in a celebration of his life on July 28 at 2:00 at their home on Big Sugar Bush Lake, 20279 Sugar Hill Drive, Ogema MN 56569. Please bring a story to share