John L. Andres

John L. Andres, 81, of Lemont, Illinois passed away on April 6,2025. He was born in
Independence, Kansas on November 13, 1943, to the late John Henry and Mary Afton
Andres. John is survived by his wife Nancy Ellen Andres (nee White); brother David
Raymond Andres (Julia); children Garrett Lane Andres (Danika), Rochelle Lynne
Andres, Joshua Lee Andres and Jonathon Leigh Andres; grandchildren Isaiah Ray
Gonzalez, Zachery Andres and Lillyanna Lynne Fisher; as well as numerous nieces and
nephews.
    John grew up in rural Kansas and attended Labette County High School. He was active
in sports while at Labette, particularly football and broad jump. John went on to earn a
bachelor’s degree from Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia, Kansas.
    After completing his undergraduate studies, John decided to pursue higher education in
the field of ministry and attended Central Baptist Theological Seminary. In his senior
year at Central, John served as student body president and played an active leadership
role at the seminary during turbulent political times. John was ordained, graduating with
a Masters Degree in Divinity with a concentration in pastoral counseling, in 1971.
   John was a remarkable man. He was always forward-thinking and a risk taker. He
reinvented himself three times during his professional career. First, he was a pastor,
then an executive at a large human services organization, lastly, he started his own
business as a systems designer and software developer.
   John started out as a minister of a home church in Jacksonville, IL and he grew
professionally from there. John served as a youth minister and led several seminars
and conferences at the American Baptist Convention Assembly Grounds in Green Lake,
Wisconsin.
   John was always up for further challenges and personal growth that were in concert
with his mission to help people. He left active ministry and began employment at the
Human Service Center in Peoria, IL, where he worked his way up from counselor to
manager of the substance use disorder division.
   John was instrumental in professionalizing the field of substance use and mental health
disorders. He actively served on numerous state and national boards of directors in the
field of behavioral health. While a member of the board of directors of the Illinois
Certification Board, John worked tirelessly toward the goal of the State of Illinois’
adoption of a recognized credential for substance use disorder counselors. John was
the third person in the State of Illinois to become a certified addictions counselor. John
also served a term as president of the National Certification Reciprocity Consortium’s

board of directors to ensure that certified counselors could move from one state to
another, keeping their credentials.
   John was one of the pioneers in Illinois in the growth of behavior health care
organizations. He saw a need for automated recordkeeping, quality improvement and
billing systems at treatment programs once substance use disorder had become a
medically approved diagnosis covered by insurance companies.

To meet this need, John started his own business and obtained a contract from the
State of Illinois to develop a pilot program and implement necessary systems for
organizations to obtain accreditation. John is self-taught in software development and
coupled with his knowledge of the field and his management skills, it was a perfect
melding. John developed and implemented automated systems in many of the large
substance use disorder organizations in the state.
    In July 2020, John fully retired. He loved traveling, boating, walking and just enjoying
life with friends and family.
    John was surrounded by loving family members when he passed away on April 6, 2025.
He was a very special man and will be missed by many.

A visitation will be held at Adolf & Powell Funeral Home, 7000 S. Madison, Willowbrook,
IL on Wednesday, April 23 at 10:00 AM until the time of funeral services at 11AM. The service will be livestreamed at John L. Andres - A Simple Streaming
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in John’s name to the
American Heart Association (www.heart.org) or St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital
(www.stjude.org).

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