John Maxwell Glasgow, 32, was born on November 14, 1994 and passed away suddenly in an accident on October 7, 2026. Though he moved around quite a bit, he called Little York and the Monmouth area home.
John was a devout follower of Christ. He was baptized at United Westminster Presbyterian Church in Kirkwood; he remained deeply involved in his faith at the First Christian Church in Monmouth. He was motivated by the life of Jesus, and wished to share his deep love with all of God’s children. John was always busy, dutifully fulfilling his mission to serve and to love.
John’s limitless curiosity about the world and all its inhabitants fueled much of his adult life and hobbies. John performed his undergraduate studies at Macalester College, where he discovered his passion for international relations and Chinese language and culture. He later took this passion to the University of John Hopkins Hopkins-Nanjing Center in China to attain his Master’s degree. At every step along the way, John’s genuine humility, respect, and generosity enabled him to bridge cultures and build countless lifelong friendships.
During his Master’s program, John combined his rural childhood roots with his traveling spirit, comparing rural economic development in China and America through numerous interviews and a comparative study of rural environmental policies in the US and China that would eventually become his thesis. After graduating from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in 2019, John returned to Illinois with this experience in tow and began advocating for rural communities through the state and beyond. He further combined this experience with his lifelong dedication to serving his community through his years of work with Rural Schools Collaborative and the Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools. His hard-working ethic of service led him to become the youngest to hold a position on the National Rural Schools Board. John loved rural communities, and insisted you should bring yourself and your experience back to the community, so that the community can be sustained.
John beautifully interwove this commitment to community throughout his many passions and hobbies. A talented cook, he found joy both in the preparation of the food and sharing that meal with others. He cooked everything from American classics to Chinese delicacies. John also enjoyed being active, hiking, kayaking, and supporting his community by instructing group fitness classes at the YMCA. John was always reading, sometimes up to 7 or 8 books at once. He loved history, culture, and good stories and read his Bible every morning. If he had the luxury of a slow morning, you would typically see him in a comfortable seat, with tea or coffee in hand, one book cracked open, several more sitting beside him, eagerly ready to share his thoughts and reflections on what he’d just read. He was usually the first one up, so only God knows how long he had been reading.
He loved gathering together for a day full of board games, of which he had an encyclopedic knowledge and collection. He appreciated music in all its forms. From spiritual hymns, to The Beatles, to Shinedown, there was not a genre he did not enjoy or a concert he wouldn’t tag along to. He was a devoted cat parent, though he also never turned down a chance to complain about their antics.
John was stalwart, faithful, constant, compassionate, magnetic, loving, and perceptive. Time spent in his presence strengthened all of those around him, elevating each and every one to a better version of themselves. Because he was truly present with everyone he met, his friends and family knew he would give everything to show up for them, even in their darkest hours, even when it wasn’t convenient or easy to do so. No one can match the ease with which John could ask the right questions to burrow to the core of the matter, so that he could truly understand you and your burdens. Then, he would kneel down beside you to shoulder that burden with you. His absence will leave a hole in his community and in the hearts of all who loved him. Like a warm winter fire suddenly snuffed, leaving us in the cold. Like the life water being sucked from the land, leaving the grass brown, the trees withered, and our souls parched. All the fond memories that were yet to be, dashed and broken upon the ground.
His legacy will be that of a faithful, passionate servant to the Creator of all things. We hope and trust that he is now held by that Creator, and that he is saving us a place by his side.
John is survived by his mother, Staci Bass (Keith Sierbinski); father, Steven (Angela) Glasgow; sister, Madison Glasgow (Julian Engel); grandparents, John & Joyce Bass of Kirkwood, Sandy Patterson of Monmouth, and James “JR” Glasgow of Monmouth; alongside all of his aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, and two cats, Angel and Ellie.
A celebration of John’s life will be at 6:00 p.m., Monday, October 26, 2026 at the First Christian Church in Monmouth, IL, all are welcome. A time of fellowship will follow the service at the church. Cremation has been accorded. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the John Glasgow Memorial Fund and can be sent to the funeral home or donations can be made online through the funeral home website. Payments – McGuire & Davies Funeral Home and Crematory The family requests that all family and friends please sign the online guestbook on the funeral home website. McGuire & Davies Funeral Home and Crematory, Monmouth, IL is in charge of the arrangements.
