John Doniat Braun died at his home surrounded by loved ones in Colorado Springs, Colorado, November 20, 2015, after a long battle with cancer. He was 64.
He was born in San Francisco, California, January 28, 1951, the son of Walter D. and Elizabeth V. Braun.
He attended a succession of Catholic schools in South Carolina, Hawaii and Wisconsin before graduating from Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1969. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1973 with a degree in history and political science. He graduated from Washburn Law School and passed the Kansas Bar in 1980 and clerked for Kansas Supreme Court Justice Kay McFarland that year.
In 1981, he graduated from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) at Arizona State University. In 1983, he passed the Colorado bar and opened a private law practice specializing in family law in Colorado Springs. Throughout his law career, he contributed many hours of pro bono work.
He was married to Jeanne Larscheid Nevarez in Colorado Springs on June 19, 1994. The love of his life, she survives of the home.
Other survivors include one daughter, Britton Charlotte Nohe-Braun, New York City; one stepson, Alex Miguel Nevarez, Denver; and one stepdaughter, Amanda Martha Nevarez, Atlanta; three brothers, Bernard Gibson (Marlies) Braun, Piesport, Germany; Walter Neely “Terry” (Maggie) Braun, Manhattan, Kansas, and Mark Stafford (Meg) Braun, Topeka, Kansas; and 12 nieces and nephews. John was preceded in death by his parents and by one brother, Stephen Carey (Meg) Braun.
John was a generous and considerate man and a loving, affectionate spouse and parent. He had a wonderful, often wry, sense of humor and wasn’t afraid to poke fun at himself. He enjoyed traveling overseas, especially with his family, and was well versed in American and European history. Also, he was an avid reader, a dedicated crossword puzzle solver and although professional sports loyalties switched from the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals to the Colorado Rockies and Denver Broncos, he was a lifelong Kansas Jayhawk fan.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, November 28, 2015, 2pm at the Shrine of Remembrance “America the Beautiful” Chapel.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to Court Care (www.courtcare.org), Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (www.bcan.org) or Pikes Peak Hospice (www.pikespeakhospice.org).