William "John" Kristen, III

William “John” Kristen III September 19,1955 - December 27, 2024, John passed away on December 27, 2024, with his wife of 40 years, Sally, by his side. John was a kind, loving, big hearted guy. He was willing to help anyone, especially family, with whatever they needed. He was very fortunate to have many, many friends from childhood to present day. 

He was born in Topeka, KS to William “Bill” John Kristen Jr and Mina (Lang) Kristen. He and his sister, Karen (Kristen) Palmieri, were Air Force “brats”. His dad was a pilot at Forbes Air Force Base in Topeka. In 1964, his dad retired from the Air Force and moved the family to St. Louis to take a civil service job. John attended school in the Lindbergh School District. The family joined St. Johns United Church of Christ in South St. Louis County, where John was confirmed. When he was of age, John and his dad joined Boy Scout Troop 649, which was sponsored by the church. His dad was assistant scout master of the troop and John earned his Eagle Scout badge. His fellow scout members selected (“tap out”) John for Order of the Arrow. He and his dad continued to the Explorers Post 649 where his dad became scout master of the post. After graduating from high school, John attended Washington University for a couple of years. 

John began his working career in high school stocking shelves at Walgreens in South County St. Louis, moved to A&P in Kirkwood, MO then became a line cook at Red Lobster in South County. This is where his love of cooking and grilling began. If you’ve had the pleasure of one of his grilled steaks then you know he had the touch. Then in 1973 he answered a two-line ad in the newspaper for a barge card recorder at SCNO Barge Lines, Inc. This is where his 40+ years began in the Inland River Transportation Industry. He was hooked. His next job took him to Memphis TN where he worked as a dispatcher for River Line, Inc., in Memphis TN and continued to learn the business and grow his career. From Memphis he moved to Chicago, IL to work for Agri-Trans/CF Industries. Agri-Trans then moved their office to St. Louis where he remained for many years. His next move was to Robert B. Miller & Associates where he managed the movement of investors individual barges and which is where he met his friend and wife, Sally. They were married at St. Johns United Church of Christ. Before they met, he worked on weekends at Anchor Marine on the Mississippi River in St. Charles MO assembling pleasure boats for customers. His next job was at Robin Hood Transportation where he established a St. Louis office for their Baton Rouge operation. He then moved to New Orleans LA where he worked for Dravo Mechling Corp. In 1988 he accepted a job at Ingram Barge Company where he remained until his retirement in 2019. During his 31 years at Ingram, John dispatched the liquid barge fleet, moved to dry cargo and dispatched the grain barge fleet and eventually working in grain sales. His last position was General Manager of Logistics of the entire Ingram fleet of 4000+ barges. 

John is preceded in death by his parents, Bill & Mina Kristen and by his brother-in-law, John Palmieri. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Sally (Weber) Kristen and their precious fur baby, Sabrina. His Sister, Karen (Kristen) Palmieri, his nephews, Rob Berger (Jen), Daniel Palmieri, his nieces and Godchild, Kim (Berger) Gerecke and (Mark), and Maria Palmieri, his grand nephews and nieces, Steven Gerecke, Samantha Berger, Addison Berger and Charles Berger. 

Final arrangements are as follow with specific dates to be determined: 

A celebration of life party will be held at Corner Pub in Bellevue TN in early January. 

A church service will be held at St. Johns United Church of Christ in South St. Louis County, MO in early February followed by a second celebration of life party at a location to be determined. As soon as dates for Nashville and St. Louis are final, they will be updated here. 

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation, in John’s honor, to the following charities: 

Living Lands and Waters, livinglandsandwaters.org, 17624 Route 84 North, East Moline, IL 61244

 Nashville Humane Association, give/nashvillehumane.org, 213 Oceola Ave., Nashville, TN 37209