John Paul Montgomery

John Paul Montgomery, 26, died unexpectedly April 14, 2011, at his home in Wasilla. He was born Feb. 26, 1985, in Fairbanks and graduated from Cyberlynx Correspondence Home School. He had worked at Pizza Hut and was currently working at Dairy Queen.

He enjoyed online role playing games, snowmachining, fishing and his greatest joys were his nieces, nephews and his extended family and friends. He cared for the kids as though they were his own.

Preceding him in death were his maternal grandmother, Judith Laing; maternal great-grandparents, Ernest and Ruth Hines; paternal grandfather, Marvin Schmidt; and nephew, Anthony Schmidt.

John Paul is survived by his mother, Marci Hawkins of Big Lake; his father, Tim Montgomery of Chugiak; his step-father, Chris Schmidt of Wasilla; sisters and brothers-in-laws, Alia and Jared Heck of Boca Raton, Fla., Sonia and Dan Williams, Jessica Jean Schmidt and Daeton Bridgwater and Sheena Halfpenny, all of Wasilla, Lexi Allston of Beaufort, S.C., and Suni and Nick Lorimer of Wasilla; brother, Shawn Schmidt of Wasilla; paternal grandmother, Eleanor Schmidt of Wasilla; maternal grandparents, Don and Linda Hendley of Kentucky and Ken Laing of Montana; maternal aunt, Shannon Laing of Arizona; paternal grandfather, Bill Montgomery of Chugiak; beloved nieces and nephews, Noah, Serena, Daniel, Brendan, Aaron, Shane, Hanna, Samuel, Melinda Jo, Rebecca, Izabela, Kody and Skylee; and a huge bonded family in Alaska.

A celebration and memorial visitation of John Paul’s life is from 5 to 7 p.m., April 22 at Alaskan Heritage Memorial Chapel and Crematory, 1015 S. Check Street, Wasilla. Please bring any stories and photos you wish to share as family and friends remember a beautiful man who touched their lives.