John Warner exemplified every quality in a great teacher, Jack Wescott, associate dean of the department of technology, said.
"He held high standards for his students," Wescott said. "They truly respected him."
Warner, an assistant professor of technology, died of cancer on Dec. 28 at his home in Dunkirk, Ind.
Warner was one of the first faculty members in the construction management program.
The program went from no students pursuing majors or minors to about 220 in four years.
Wescott credited Warner with a lot of the department's success.
"He expected students to be accurate, to be concise, he expected them to perform as they would in the real world of work, so to speak," Wescott said.
In addition to teaching, Warner loved running, spending time with his family and helping others.
"He was a real salt of the earth type of person, he would help anyone," Wescott said. "During snow storms, if he saw someone in a ditch he always had a tow rope and would do anything to help them out."
Warner was a member of Fairview United Methodist Church in Dunkirk.
"He had faith but it was more in keeping with his own personal values, nothing he needed to impose on others," Dan Orr, Warner's neighbor and retired teacher at Jay County High School, said. "He was not a man driven by possessions or wealth or accumulation of things and had a pretty good perspective on what the meaning of life was."
Orr said Warner was a wonderful father, had a great sense of humor and a remarkable passion for teaching.
Surviving him are his wife, five children and eight grandchildren.
"The world isn't as good of a place without him," Orr said.
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