A memorial service to celebrate the life and ministry of Rev. John M. Aregood, Jr. will take place Saturday, February 28, 2015 at 3 pm at O’Fallon United Church of Christ, 206 West Adams, O’Fallon, IL. Visitation starts at 2 pm and will resume after the service at a luncheon served in the church basement.
Jack was born to Alma Trout and John Aregood, Sr. on July 21, 1933, in Philadelphia, PA and died on February 19, 2015 at the age of 81 following a long illness.
Jack graduated from Schuylkill Haven High School, Ursinus College, and Lancaster Theological Seminary, all in Pennsylvania, and was ordained into the Christian Ministry at St. John’s United Church of Christ, Orwigsburg, PA on June 14, 1959.
Following ordination, Jack began his 13-year ministry in Biloxi, MS, serving variously as Director of Back Bay Mission, a long-established social service ministry of the United Church of Christ, and as Minister of Christian Education and Pastor of the Biloxi United Church of Christ.
Jack believed that actions speak louder than words. As an expression of his faith, he was an active proponent of the civil rights movement, participating in the June 23, 1963 Biloxi wade-in, forcing a lawsuit allowing universal access to the public beaches.
Jack served as President of the Gulf Coast Council on Human Relations, the Harrison County Head Start Program, and the Harrison County Community Action Program. He served on the Boards of the Biloxi Boys & Girls Club, Moore Community Center, and STAR (Systematic Training and Redevelopment Program).
As Director of Back Bay Mission, Jack was the catalyst for the Gulf Coast Family Counseling Center, the Anchor Coffee House Ministry, and a robust housing rehab program following Hurricane Camille.
In 1972, Rev. Aregood and his family relocated to Old Enterprise Farms, Lebanon, IL. Jack supplied several UCC churches in the area and worked as a counselor at Hoyleton Children’s Home while learning to plant and care for apple trees, peaches, and strawberries.
Jack’s ministry at the O’Fallon United Church of Christ began in 1976. He served as Associate Pastor (1978-1985), and was an active member until his death.
In 1985 he was called as Director of the United Church Neighborhood Houses in St. Louis, serving in that capacity until retirement in 1996. Jack was awarded the Robert V. Moss Award for Specialized Ministry by the Lancaster Theological Seminary Alumni Association in 1995. Following retirement, Jack served several interim pastorates in Illinois South Conference.
Jack was preceded in death by his parents, Alma and John Aregood, his step-father, Dave Anderson, his father-in-law, Ernest Hartmann, and his sister-in-law, Diane Lusk Miller.
Surviving are his wife of 51 years, Joy, nee Hartmann; his daughter, Jacqueline S. Aregood, MD and her husband, Lt. Col.(ret.) Mark A. Russo, of O’Fallon, IL; his son, John M. Aregood, III, MD and his wife, Olivia, of Portland, OR. He will be greatly missed by his five grandchildren, Jeremy Aregood, of Chicago, IL; Luke, Ella, and Zack Russo, of O’Fallon, IL and John (Jack) Aregood of Portland, OR. He is also survived by his brother, Rev. Dr. Robert G. Aregood and his wife, Barbara, of Elizabethtown, PA; his mother-in-law, Margaret Braun Hartmann and his sister-in-law, Karen Capuano and her husband Pete of Biloxi, MS; nephews Fred and Scott Lusk, Peter Capuano, and Robert Aregood, and nieces Ellen Capuano and Kathy Aregood Crusi and by many friends, colleagues, and extended family.
Memorials may be made to the Educational Ministries of the O’Fallon United Church of Christ, Hospice of Southern Illinois, or United Church Neighborhood Houses in St. Louis, MO.

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