Sept. 28, 1954 - July 15, 2009

BRISTOL -- John Philip Town, 54, of Bristol, died at 2:50 p.m. Wednesday (July 15, 2009) at Elkhart General Hospital, after an extended illness.

He was born Sept. 28, 1954, in South Bend to Forbes and Dorothy (Blackford) Town. He married Cynthia M. "Mecheala" Purdy on Feb. 14, 1997, in Goshen.

She survives along with three daughters, Kristen M. (Chad) Bennett of Nappanee, and Tarah M. (Dave) Hiatt and Rachel A. (Rob) Ramesh, both of South Bend; two sisters, Sue (Ralph) Lee of Bridgestone, Ga., and Sharon (Keith) Foster of South Bend; his parents, Forbes Town of Millersburg and Dorothy (Harold) Gee of Roselawn; and eight grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by one brother, Robert Town, and one sister, Carol Seiber.

Mr. Town was an electrician in the RV industry for more than 20 years, working at such places as ERI Housing in Warsaw, Four Seasons Housing in Middlebury and Fairmont Homes in Nappanee. He enjoyed the outdoors and animals, and raised horses, ducks and chickens on his farm, along with tending a garden. He was an avid collector of bells, as well as Coca-Cola and NASCAR memorabilia, including No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. He also liked to build models of all types and had several HO gauge model train collections. He was a science fiction movie enthusiast. The "Star Trek" and "Stargate" series were favorites of his.

Friends may call at 10 a.m. Monday at Billings Funeral Home, 812 Baldwin St., Elkhart. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the funeral home, with Pastor Steve Steele of the Kessington Community Church of Union, Mich., officiating. Burial will follow at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Bristol.

Memorials may be given to the John P. Town Memorial Fund, c/o Billings Funeral Home. Visit www.billingsfuneralhome.com to give online condolences to the family.