John William Rader

Beloved husband, father, brother, grandfather, Dr. John W. Rader, passed away peacefully on January 19, 2026, less than two months shy of his 90th birthday. A resident of Franklin, Tennessee, John was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, on March 10, 1936, to the late John D. Rader and Hallie C. Rader. After his father died overseas while serving in the United States Army during World War II, John moved with his mother and younger brother, Frank, to Buena Vista, Virginia, a small, historic city at the western foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

As a young man growing up in the 1940’s and 1950’s, John was a sports guy who loved playing football, basketball, and baseball when he wasn’t picking up part-time jobs. He learned early on the importance of hard work and staying active. Both qualities served him well throughout his long life.

After graduating from Perry McClure High School, John loved to tell how he received an Alternate Appointment to West Point Academy, but ultimately decided to join the United States Navy, not realizing he would be constantly seasick for four years at sea. After his time in the Navy, John enrolled in Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia. He arrived as an older college student with a little bit of cash in his pocket and a new convertible. John continued with athletics at Bridgewater and played on the college football team, but admitted he was too slow to score many touchdowns.

While at Bridgewater, he met and fell in love with Mary Ellen Speicher from Accident, Maryland, and they married on June 17, 1961. They moved to Illinois, where John earned his Master of Science in Physical Education from the University of Illinois and began coaching high school sports. He was an assistant football coach for one of the first integrated teams in the United States. John understood the power of higher education and went on to receive a second master’s degree in health education from the University of Oregon, followed by a Doctorate in Health Education from the same university.

By the early 1970’s, John and Mary Ellen had moved back east to settle in Harrisonburg, Virginia, with their two daughters, Stephanie and Jennifer. With his doctorate in health, John joined the faculty at Madison College (renamed James Madison University in 1977). During this time, he coached the men’s soccer and tennis teams while teaching health education. He also spent countless hours on the tennis court in the summers, teaching what seemed like half of Harrisonburg's population to play, making him a well-recognized and beloved member of the community. More than a few of his pupils had a crush on him because of his entertaining personality and his beautiful, tanned legs! In 1975, in addition to his coaching and teaching duties, John was tapped to lead a new community project focused on an early-morning fitness program to help faculty and community members take a healthier fitness path. Every day for 10+ years, he started his day at 5:30 am, motivating people on their fitness journeys and helping them become better versions of themselves.

John’s love of fitness and helping people change their lives carried him through different positions outside of teaching and coaching. He left teaching to become the first Executive Director of The Valley Wellness Center in Harrisonburg, where he loved checking on his members, encouraging them in their health and lifestyle goals, and making an impact on their lives. After both daughters had moved out of the house, John and Mary Ellen heard the coast calling them to Wilmington, North Carolina, where they enjoyed the beach life, and John secured his dream job as Dean of Education at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, where he worked until age 70.

While John loved his professional life teaching, coaching, and volunteering on various community boards, his favorite role was being a “girl dad,” a family man, and “Pop Pop.” Married for almost 65 years, John and Mary Ellen shared a great life with many friends and enjoyed being part of a community. Early in their marriage, they traveled all over the United States and loved tent camping in state parks throughout the western United States with two young daughters in tow. Over the years, they ventured to other favorite places, including Ireland, Italy, and China, with many destinations in between.

As a “girl dad,” he was strict and always clear on his expectations. He valued honesty, integrity, compassion, and the work it takes to succeed, and made sure his daughters grew up with those ideals instilled in them. He went to every horse show, tennis match, school recital, singing performance, and graduation, and made sure he was home every night for dinner with his family. He disliked roller coasters, skiing, and helping with algebra homework, but would do them if it meant spending time with one of his girls. On the weekends, he loved taking his family for picnics and hiking in the nearby Shenandoah National Park, or to James Madison University football and basketball games to cheer on the Dukes.

As a grandfather, he was known as “Pop Pop.” He had boundless energy with his four grandchildren and was just as comfortable at a tea party with multiple stuffed animals, playing Barbies with Hayley (she fussed because he did not make the Barbies “talk right”), and telling Olivia his corny Huey, Louie and Dewy stories, as he was wrestling (he and Jay would sneak upstairs against maternal orders), having Caroline velcroed to him as a toddler (“Pop Pop, we got you a wawwet for your birthday”), shooting baskets, tossing tennis balls, building sandcastles, teaching how to ride a bike, chaperoning a school trip, making forts, going kayaking, golfing, watching sports on ESPN or making hot fudge sundaes and sneaking extra snacks after bedtime. He was the perfect nurse when a grandchild got sick, pacing the house for hours with one of them securely on his chest so their mother could rest. A year before each graduated from high school, John worked on a scrapbook of a lifetime of pictures of them as a graduation present, a treasured gift made with love. As the grandkids got older, he tried not to offer unsolicited advice and to just be a steady, supportive presence in their lives. Every day spent with their Pop Pop, his grandkids knew they were loved.

John is survived by his wife of almost 65 years, Mary Ellen Rader; two daughters, Stephanie Rader Sipe (A.G. Cooper, III, husband) of Statesboro, GA/Hilton Head Island, S.C., and Jennifer Ellen Rader, Franklin, TN; brother, Frank McClure Rader and his long-time companion, Kay, Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and four grandchildren, James (“Jay”) Rothgeb Sipe, III (Atlanta, GA); Caroline Lowery Sipe (William Joseph Thomas, husband), Atlanta, GA; Ellen Hayley Sipe, Atlanta, GA; and Olivia Shali Rader, Franklin, TN.

A Celebration of Life is being planned for his 90th birthday.

Those wishing to honor his memory may do so by making a donation in John’s name to either Alive Hospice, Holt International (Gift of Hope Fund), or Bridgewater College (Bridgewater Fund).