KILMARNOCK—John Wilson Agen, 79, of Kilmarnock, formerly of Sarasota, Florida, passed away peacefully on Saturday, October 4, 2025, at the Jones and Cabacoy Veterans Care Center in Virginia Beach. John was surrounded by his loving family and devoted friends.
John lived a life of service. He served the lord, his family, friends and his country. John attended Rockhurst College, a Jesuit school in Kansas City, Missouri. After two tours in Viet Nam with the United States Air Force he moved to Sarasota, Florida, joining the Sarasota Municipal Police Department. He continued his education at Manatee Community College and FLETC in Glynco, Georgia.
During John’s 26-year career with the department he was a member of the Sarasota Police Rescue Dive Team, a lead arson investigator and taught classes in financial fraud.
John was a member of St. Francis DeSales Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus in Kilmarnock. He was an avid sailor and landscaper/gardener. As far as he was concerned, a day spent out on the water and/or on his John Deere was a day well lived. His sense of humor and his quick wit will be dearly missed.
John is survived by his loving soulmate and best friend of nearly four decades, Carolyn Heath; brother, Jym (Mary) Agen of Sarasota; and sister, Sandi Agen of Sandwich, Mass.; brother-in-law, Bill Thauer of Decatur, Ga.; daughters, Kath (Cory) Evers of Proctor, Minn., Jacqueline Shea of Kea’au, Hawaii, and Colleen (Harold) Whelden of Nantucket, Mass.; and extended family members, Anthony (Dorothy) Reese of Parkton, N.C.; Eric (Claire) Chaleff of Chicago, Ill.; Jim (Mary) Heath of Seattle, Wash.; his grandchildren, Ty Rabine, Baily Evers and Cody Evers of Proctor, Delta (Jason) Palmer and their two children of Bradenton, Fla., Sebastian (Hannah) Durand of Bayou Vista, Texas, Elizabeth Durand of Kea’au, and Lily Whelden of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; along with many cousins, nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his sister, Ginger Thauer.
The family wishes to thank John’s friends and home-health care-givers for all of their unending care, kindness and understanding during his extended illness.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. on October 24 at Currie Funeral Home in Kilmarnock, followed by a memorial luncheon at his home. Interment will be at a later date at Crown Hill National Cemetery in Indianapolis, Ind.
John will be sadly missed by his pooches, Ben and Annie and they know that he was greeted by Gringo in the Bahamas.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in John’s honor to the Institute for Systems Biology at https://isbscience.org/ or by mail to 401 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109-5263; or to Fisher House Foundation, Inc. at www.fisherhouse.org or by mail to 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 410, Rockville, MD 20852.
