John Joseph Speckin, 57, of Olathe, KS, passed away on Thursday, April 13, 2023. Visitation will be Thursday, April 20th at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 13615 W. 92nd Lenexa, KS 66215. A Rosary will be prayed at 4:00 PM with visitation until 7:00 PM. Funeral Mass will begin at 10:30 AM with Eulogies at 10:00 AM Friday, April 21, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church. Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery, Lenexa, KS.
John was born October 14, 1965, in Kansas City, KS to Paul and Dorothy (Otten) Speckin. He attended Saint Joseph Grade School and Aquinas High School in Shawnee, KS. He loved all sports and excelled in basketball and football. Many of his friendships formed during those years remained strong and intact. John attended the University of Kansas and received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in May of 1989.
John was introduced to his future wife, Kim, by his close friend and roommate just before the KU ’88 National Championship run. They were married on July 7, 1990 and have four children. Family and faith were cornerstones of their relationship. John was kind, caring, and selfless in every aspect of his life. While leading quietly by example, John was a perfect role model to his children and others on how to emulate Christ through being an amazing spouse, father, son, sibling, friend and colleague.
Upon graduating KU, John began his 34-year career with the FAA as an engineer. One of his personal favorite claims to fame was both designing and building the still strong standing MCI Air Traffic Control Tower. In 2007, John was selected as the Deputy Regional Administrator for the Central Region encompassing the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Serving as a subject matter expert in a variety of areas, John was also selected for numerous details that included Acting Regional Administrator, Manager Technical Operations and Acting Director of the Aviation Logistics Organization where he provided executive oversight of the FAA’s real and personal property assets. In 2022, John was selected as Executive Director, Service Centers where he provided executive oversight of shared services delivery to air traffic controllers and technicians, which is accomplished by over 1,200 employees located in the three Service Centers in Atlanta, Fort Worth and Seattle. John honorably served the federal government in a variety of technical and leadership roles, including his thorough research and work on the national COVID Response Team. John won numerous awards for his government service including peer awards for Employee of the Year, Central Regional Manager of the Year, COVID Team Award, recognition by the Federal Executive Board Team on Environmental Processes, among other awards. John was a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia and was a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Kansas.
John will be remembered for his love of family, loyalty to friends and eagerness to always help others. He had a passion for all things sports, but none more important than the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) where he coached all four of his children and their many friends. He was a proud Board Member for five years that included presiding as President for the last three years. John was a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society.
John was preceded in death by his father Paul; maternal grandparents Carl and Anna Otten; paternal grandparents Paul and Sadie Speckin; and brother-in-law Greg Hill. He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Kim, and their children: Andrew (wife Abbey), Alex (wife Rachel), Anna and Abby. Siblings: Alisa Ford (husband Bill), Mark Speckin, Kathy Hill, Mary Mathew (husband Todd), David Speckin (wife Mary) and numerous nieces and nephews whom he cherished. As well as Myron and Marge Lang (In-Laws), Lisa Storms (husband Andy) and Jarrod Lang (wife Karen). He will forever be known as the glue to our family foundation.
Though John’s sudden passing has left us with much sorrow, we find comfort in knowing he will continue to be a hero as an organ donor. We have many people to thank that starts with First Responders who were called to our home, the ER staff of Overland Park Regional Medical Center, the HCA Life Flight crew, the Neuro ICU staff at Research Medical Center, the Midwest Transplant Network team and the legions of prayer warriors that includes family, our community of friends, co-workers and the many others we have yet to meet who were praying for our family.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contributions to St. Jude's Hospital or CYO (Catholic Youth Organization). As it was so very important to John that those in need be able to participate with sports in their Catholic communities, CYO has established The John Speckin Scholarship Fund. You can visit the following link https://cyojwa.org/donations and view Featured Items to locate the Scholarship Fund.
John Speckin Obituary, Death – John Speckin, the Deputy Regional Administrator for the Central Region of the FAA, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska has died. Mr. Speckin oversees FAA projects such as airport obstruction standards, succession planning for regions and center operations, and optimization, and he collaborates closely with aviation stakeholders, airport authorities, local and state governments, and Members of Congress.
Mr. Speckin was also the Acting Director of the Aviation Logistics Organization (ALO), where he was in charge of the FAA’s real and personal property assets. He was in charge of approximately 267,000 assets, a motor fleet of over 4,400 GSA and 218 FAA-owned vehicles, 3,500 leases, and the DOT’s real property asset management, which included 62,000 assets, in that role. ALO also manages 1.5 million square feet of administrative space and designs and constructs offices.
Mr. Speckin began his career with the FAA as an engineer in 1989 and was named Regional St. Louis Program Manager in 1996, where he oversaw the $2.6 billion expansion of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, integrating both FAA and airport activities required to commission the new runway and other airfield improvements. In 2001, he was employed as the Air Traffic Organization’s Terminal Planning Account Manager, where he was responsible for all Central Region Terminal facilities’ tactical and strategic planning.
As an Account Manager, Mr. Speckin was responsible for national planning initiatives, the development of sustainment models for ATCTs and TRACONs, and the design of NextGen control facilities, including the larger East coast facilities. In 2007, he was assigned to his current position as Deputy Regional Manager, Central Region. Mr. Speckin earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, and is a Kansas-licensed Professional Engineer.
