JT Atchison

Jacob Todd “JT” Atchison was born January 30, 2004, to Todd and Stacy (Ozinga) Atchison in Pella, Iowa.

JT grew up and attended schools in Pella. He was a 2022 graduate of Pella Community High School, where he was an honor roll student, loved history and social studies classes, and played football. In his free time, he enjoyed all genres of music, but the Foo Fighters, Johnny Cash, and Zach Bryan were among his favorites. He was also often building LEGO sets that grew in complexity as he grew up. One of his gifts every Christmas was a big LEGO set, and he and his mother spent the day building the set together.

At the age of seven, he began taking Tae Kwon Do classes at Triumph Martial arts in Pella, Iowa. He ascended ranks and earned his third-degree black belt in 2019. He transitioned into a teaching position and found joy in helping other students attain their next belts. His favorite thing to do was teach black belt candidates their final form for rank testing.

JT had wisdom beyond his years. Military was his goal from early on, and JT was incredibly proud of his service. He left for Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning) on May 1st and quickly excelled in basic training, earning recognition and privileges for his performance and discipline. He earned top shot for his company and received expert marksmanship. He was made team leader in his platoon, and chose his call name to be Atlas. His ultimate goal was to join the 75th Ranger Battalion and someday join the Special Forces.

He died on July 12, 2023, while completing a basic training exercise. Service, duty, loyal friend, integrity, respectful, and “self-professed mama’s boy” were just a few words to describe JT. His family will miss the opportunity to see the man he was becoming.

Those left to cherish his memory are his parents Todd and Stacy Atchison, and his sister Harley of Pella.

Grandparents: Marlene and John Gosselink, and Beverly Atchison of Pella.

Aunts and Uncles: Ryan and Jessica Ozinga of O’Fallon, Missouri, Andrea and Shaun Hudnut of Prairie City, Eric Gosselink of Pella, Alex Gosselink of Des Moines, and Tedd Atchison of Pella.

And many cousins.

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