John Norman Wells

John Norman Wells, age 91, of Wichita, Kansas, passed away peacefully on September 5th in the comfort of his home. Born on December 11th 1934 in Denver, Colorado to parents Sydney and Delores (Engle) Wells. The charisma which was John bloomed in childhood. He studied the discipline of Judo starting at age 5, and also took dance lessons. The latter came in handy at a social event at a Fred Astaire Dance Studio where he was picked out of a crowd to dance alongside Fred Astaire himself. John’s family moved a lot in his early years across the whole of the United States, eventually landing in Kansas. During this time in the 1950’s John was voted “Ideal Boy” in Hutchison and even had a run in with Trigger, Roy Rodgers horse at a parade in Dodge City. As a young man John studied criminology and fingerprinting in Chicago and then later moved to California where he graduated from the Los Angeles Police Academy. In his time in LA he interacted with several celebrities including the comedy trio The Three Stooges. John was the trio’s security guard as they traveled across the country for The March of Dimes, a campaign to promote the polio vaccine. A cause close to John’s heart as he survived polio as a young boy.

Eventually John moved back to Kansas, where he was a Sheriff Officer for the Sedgwick County road patrol. John worked alongside his best friend and partner Butch a beautiful German Shepherd. His love for animals took him to the Riverside Zoo. He began working there as a zookeeper caring for the animals. John dedicated his time working in The Lion and Monkey House managing exotic species that most Kansans had never seen up close before. John became friendly with an ape named Ringo. John hand fed Ringo like many other new arrivals to help make them at home. John even took Ringo out of the zoo to his own home, and to local schools. A favorite task of John’s was assisting with the moving of the alligators seasonally to and from their pit, one of the largest public events in Wichita at the time. If you remember these events or have seen photos he was the man sitting on top of the alligators.

No matter what job John was working he had a passion to help people learn self defense. From a backyard studio in California, to a successful Karate Academy on E Central in Wichita, John enjoyed educating others on how to help themselves. In the 1970s, he became a foundational pillar of the Wichita community by founding the Wells Karate Academy. Synthesizing a lifetime of knowledge, he taught karate, judo, taekwondo, jujitsu, and aikido. Grandmaster Wells went on to found his own unique system, a combination of the best techniques in five different disciplines, Kwan Ki Do (The Way of Internal Energy). As the founder of this system, he achieved the rare and prestigious rank of 10th Degree Black Belt (10th Dan), the absolute pinnacle of martial arts achievement. During this time in addition to teaching people in his academy, and in home private studio he created a couple self defense videos. The most popular was “Knife Attack” filmed professionally at Wesley; which was used to train the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. By the 1990’s John was ready for something new and a bit slower paced and started J & L quality painting. Eventually he was ready to go back to what he knew best and began working for Pinkerton Security where he was a Captain. Later in life he retired as a security officer at Galichia Heart Hospital.

John’s loved ones fondly remember his ability to draw people in, and his connection to spirituality; ready to discuss scripture with anyone as he was also an ordained minister. John in his golden years loved spending time with family. The family would often go out to see movies, visit zoos, garage-saleing, and watch classic films and westerns at home. John is lovingly missed by his wife of 47 years Lorna Mae (Sherman) Wells, children Susan Armstrong (Michael), Melissa Velasquez (Raul), John Samson Wells; 7 grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren, brother William Malt Jr. (Kathy), and 2 nieces. John was preceded in death by his parents, Sydney and Delores Wells; and his step father William Malt Sr. 

The family invites you to join them as they celebrate John’s life and mourn the devastating loss. A viewing will be held on Tuesday, September 15th from 6-8pm at Broadway Mortuary at 1147 S Broadway Wichita, KS. A funeral service will be held the following day, Wednesday, September 16th at 2pm at Broadway Mortuary by Cozine Memorial Group.

A memorial has been established with: Crohn's Disease Foundationgiving.crohnscolitisfoundation.org