John Nelson Drowatzky

John Nelson Drowatzky, age 88 passed away Tuesday March 18, 2025 at Franciscan Care Center. John was born April 11, 1936 in Wichita, Kansas to Mark Leonard Drowatzky and Minnie Louise Drowatzky. As a teenager John was active in the Boy Scouts and earned the rank of Eagle and he earned a bronze palm. While in Venturing Scouts he earned the Silver explorer award. He graduated from Wichita High School North and earned a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and Social Studies from the University of Kansas. At the University of Oregon he earned a Masters of Education in Physical Education and a Doctorate of Education in the area of Scientific Foundations of Physical Activity and Educational Psychology. Finally, he earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Toledo. He served in the US Army as an air defense missile unit administrative officer, an instructor for advanced officer courses and a member of the unit VIP Briefing Team. In 1962 he married Linnea (Swanson) Drowatzky. John came to the University of Toledo as an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Education in 1965 and retired as a Professor Emeritus in 1993. As part of his illustrious academic career he served as department chair for 9 years. He was also inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education. In addition to his academic career he was a licensed attorney in Ohio.

Giving back to the community was always important to him. While a professor he served as a consultant for many area schools, organizations and health care programs, and provided services to professional organizations. Some of his service activities enabled him to travel internationally to Brazil, South Korea, and Finland. Many of these service opportunities focused on improving the lives of individuals with special needs. John was an active member of Hope Lutheran Church since 1965. After retiring from the university, he served as Director of Outreach Ministry for 8 years at Hope Lutheran Church. There he oversaw local and international mission activities of the church. Locally a partnership between Hope Lutheran and Salem Lutheran Church was established and is still ongoing. International missions included building houses in El Salvador, medical missions in Haiti, and a ministry mission for orphans in Romania. He traveled to El Salvador for 8 years and to Haiti for 3 years. More recently, John enjoyed hanging out on Saturday mornings with the Panera crew, having lunches with friends, and watching basketball as well as other sports.

John was preceded in death by his wife of over 57 years, Linnea Drowatzky. Surviving are his daughters, Kara (Nick) Mancini and Katrina (Benjamin) DuBose; Grandson, John “Jack” DuBose; brother, Ernest (Becky) Drowatzky; sister, Dora Ann Eckhoff.

John will be privately laid to rest at Ottawa Hills Memorial Park. A public memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, March 29, 2025 at Hope Lutheran Church, 2201 Secor Road, Toledo, OH 43606. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Hope Lutheran Church. John’s family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff at Franciscan Care Center and the staff of Residential Hospice for the loving care they provided at the end of his brief battle with colon cancer.