John Bottenfield, 67, of Memphis, Tennessee, formerly of New Ulm, died June 14, 2011 at the VA Hospital in Memphis. Visitation will be 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Saturday, June 25, 2011 at the Minnesota Valley Funeral Home in New Ulm. Full military honors will be conducted by the New Ulm Area Comrades of Valor Honor Guard at the funeral home at Noon. Following the visitation, there will be a Celebration of Life at the home of Deb Steinbach, 300 11th North Street in New Ulm. John is survived by sisters, Deb Steinbach of New Ulm, Nancy Eggum of Omaha, Nebraska, Patty Tricker of River Falls, Wisconsin; brothers, Terry Bottenfield of New Ulm, Ronnie Bottenfield of Chaska, Steve Bottenfield of Texas; daughters, Jill Zupfer and Sherry Bottenfield; son, Greg Bottenfield; and by many nieces and nephews. John was born on August 1, 1943 in Rochester to Vern and Ruth Bottenfield. They lived in Fairmont before moving to New Ulm in 1949. He served in the U.S. Army from 1962 - 1964, stationed in Hawaii. While living in New Ulm, he worked at Bordens and 3M. In 1971, he moved to Memphis. He took his love of hotdogs and opened up a restaurant. In July of 1976, he opened up Obleo's Dog House & Flea Market (named after his Golden Retriever). He served hotdogs in the front of the store and sold used items and crafts in the back. He had the restaurant for 10 years. He then opened Big John's Little Place in Memphis before retiring. John was well known in Memphis as "Big John".