JOHN FRANCIS KOHLRIESER

John Francis Kohlrieser, 90, a scholar, monk, teacher, and lay missioner whose life was devoted to spiritual growth and Christian service, died on September 9, 2026, in Sacramento, CA, after an earlier stroke. He is survived by his twin sister, Joyce Ristau, and her husband, Erv, of Overland Park, KS, and their five children: Mark Ristau of Kemmerer, WY; Anne Cooper of Griffin, GA; Maribeth Rasdall of Wichita, KS; Geoff Ristau of Linn Valley, KS; and Jennifer Ristau of Overland Park, KS. Also surviving him is his brother-in-law, Tony Mras of Vacaville, CA, the widower of John’s younger sister, Mary, and their three children; Jessica Esquivel of Edmond, OK; Michael Mras of Peyton, CO; and Leslie Baddley of Meadow Vista, CA.

Early life and education

John was born in Dayton, OH, on October 1, 1935, the son of the late Frank and Evelyn Kohlrieser. At the age of nine, he contracted a near-fatal case of polio that left him fighting for life in an iron lung and unable to walk unassisted for the rest of his life. Those who knew him later admired his determination and his refusal to let his disability define him.

The family left Dayton in 1948, when his father, an Air Force officer, moved them to China. They remained there until 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party overthrew the Nationalist government. The family then spent a year in Japan, where John began high school. His education was interrupted when his father was reassigned to Washington, DC, and the children entered American schools. John graduated from Gonzaga College High School in 1953. A classmate, Ash Hawken, recalls, “John dashed to classes and activities, deftly negotiating the stairs and crowded spaces, with leg braces clicking and forearm crutches guiding him into desks and chairs. We admired his determination and enjoyed his sense of humor.”

After high school, when the family moved to Colorado, John remained in Washington to continue his education with the Jesuits at nearby Georgetown University. He majored in English literature and graduated with honors in 1957. Hoping to become a teacher, he taught German and religion the following year at his alma mater, Gonzaga. After a year there, he completed coursework for a master’s degree in English literature at Boston College.

 A Life’s Journey

In 1960, John began work as an analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia. In 1961, he was best man at Joyce’s wedding in Colorado Springs. In 1963, a call to religious life prompted him to gather his friends at a Washington restaurant and announce his decision to enter the Trappist Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia. He described his seven years as a monk there as “blessed,” recalling that the community prayed the Liturgy of the Hours, beginning at four in the morning and continuing throughout the day until evening prayers. At Holy Spirit, he studied, worked as a tailor, sang in the choir, and assisted aging monks in their daily routines. Before professing final vows, he left the monastery to test his vocation within the wider world.

Over his long and restless life, John entered two other monasteries of the order, punctuating a life as a lay missioner in challenging settings. He taught English while privately sharing the Gospel message with threatened Christians in officially atheistic countries. During one trip to Russia, authorities confiscated his passport after he was caught passing out Bibles, and there was concern that his group’s work would be judged criminal. The crisis passed, and they were allowed to leave the country, never to return. John was fluent in German and spent several years in Germany in the 1970s, teaching and sharing his faith. Later, he journeyed to the Philippines and Australia to teach and preach. His expired passports bear stamps from most of the governments of East and Southeast Asia. On two occasions, he was a faculty member at universities in the People’s Republic of China.

His nomadic existence made it difficult for his family to track his movements. His sister Joyce expressed the family’s view of his apostolic life: “We admired what he was doing but wished he could have been more practical. Often, we did not know where he was, but we were thrilled when he showed up to celebrate family events. He was godfather to my daughter, Anne.” In 1998, he donated bone marrow to his sister Mary as part of her treatment for leukemia.

The Later Years

He lived simply in humble accommodations. Throughout his life, John supported himself and his ministries with a variety of short-term jobs for modest pay. In Sacramento, he was a part-time teacher in the San Juan District public school system. He worked at a library in Denver and taught school in several locations while taking coursework at local universities to hone his teaching skills. A devout Roman Catholic, he joined local parishes wherever his journeys took him. In Sacramento, John joined four different parishes over the years, depending on the day and available liturgy. Devoted to his faith, John participated in daily Mass and was a daily communicant. Recently, his home parish was Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary although he attended evening Mass at St. Ignatius.

In contrast to his evangelical zeal and work for social justice at home and abroad, John lived a contemplative life of study to deepen his knowledge of the scriptures. In conversations with friends, he spoke of his monastic life as “his search for inner silence and solitude” and of his lay life as “a desire to reflect the love of Christ wherever I landed.” His longtime friend and caregiver, Matt Florendo, spoke of John’s reading, even as his health was failing: “There were always Bibles and religious books scattered on the dining room table, and John would read them while making notes and translating passages. He enjoyed watching filmed documentaries about early Christianity.”

Remembrance and Funeral Details

All who knew John Kohlrieser remember him as an optimistic and joyful man with a ready laugh and a kind word for everyone. When notified of his death, Fr. Charles Albanese, who was his novice master at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado from 1983 to 1985, remembered him simply as “a happy person.”

Tony Mras saw his brother-in-law’s life as a manifestation of the Good Shepherd’s protection as expressed in the twenty-third psalm of David. “John feared no evil as he walked on often-dangerous paths during his ministry, and although he earned very little money, his cup was always full enough to keep him going and share with others. He heeded God’s call and trusted that he would dwell in His house forever.”

On learning of his death, Gonzaga’s President, Joseph E. Lingan, S.J., wrote, “John’s life was in the tradition of St. Ignatius, who called upon his followers to be contemplatives in action. He built on his Jesuit education and carried the Gospel message of love and reconciliation into his world. His joyful spirit once graced these halls, building on this school’s continuing commitment to Christian witness and social justice. We ask his Creator to welcome him into His embrace, as he so often welcomed others into his own humble life. May he rest in peace.”

John Kohlrieser touched many people in many places during his faith-filled life. Now, free of his braces and his searching over, he is in the grasp of the Triune God, whose message of love he personified on earth.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on October 9, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church, 4123 Robertson Avenue, Sacramento, California 95821. The rosary and visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m. The family will host a reception after Mass in the parish center. Interment is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Calvary Cemetery, 7100 Verner Avenue, Citrus Heights, CA.

Messages of sympathy may be sent to tonymras2@gmail.com.