John Bayer

Life Legacy John Frank Bayer was born in 1938 in Limon, Costa Rica to Frank Gustav Bayer and Elizabeth Roskinski Bayer who had emigrated from Germany and managed a banana plantation for the United Fruit Company. When John was about five years old, WWII Allies of the US rounded up German and Japanese residents and sent them to internment camps in the US. John, with his 15 year old sister Trudy and his parents were interred in Crystal City TX, the only family internment camp. They were soon transported back to Germany as part of a prisoner exchange program. Life in war-torn Europe was very hard but they all survived and eventually returned to Costa Rica, this time running a cocoa plantation. In the late 1950’s, after graduating from his boarding school in San Jose CR, John obtained a student visa, joined his sister in Columbus OH and enrolled in Dayton and Ohio State Universities. He met and married Martha Franz and together they had four children. John became a naturalized citizen in 1964. He spent his entire career in the title and mortgage industries, helping countless families finance home purchases. He is survived by his wife of 19 years, Kathryn Phillips Bayer, his children, Liz (d. Mike) May, Tina (Dan) Seafler, Ann (Jeff) Matuch and Mike (Jean) Bayer, step-daughters Andrea (Matt Besecker) Phillips and Lauren (Moe Seita) Phillips, grandchildren David (Kelly) Reynolds, Jennifer May, Rachel (Greg Luks) Seafler, Danny Seafler, Nick Matuch, Olivia Matuch, Sam Matuch, Cheyne Bayer, Chloe Hollenbaugh, Jacob Bayer, Jude, Evan, Kira, Aden and Lila Phillips, great-grandchildren Darian, Ava, Laeric and Aaliyah plus many nieces and nephews. He was pre-deceased by his sister Gertude, her husband Harvey Leggette and step-son Jay (Tana)Phillips. Services will be Saturday October 27, 2018 at St. Basil’s The Great, 8700 Brecksville Road, Brecksville OH. Visitation 11:30, Mass 12:30. A Memorial Gathering for family and friends in Arizona will be, Saturday November 3, 2018 at Lodge on the Desert from 2:00-5:00pm Message history