John and his wife Heather
When we were on the road and it was time for Heather to get home from work, everything stopped so that he could call home and talk to her and share what was going on in his life. Marriage is not always easy and sometimes those calls were not easy. Just as my wife is left home to deal with all the troubles of the home Heather had a lot on her hands. She dealt with all that came her way and I know John loved and appreciated her for that.
To say that John loved Porsches is a bit of an understatement. He often talked about his 1988 911 and how he missed the car. After many years of driving his Acura, John was recently able to buy a yellow Boxter S. He loved that car and often showed me pictures from autocrosses. When winter came and he had to get into the Buick it was like parting with a child.While he loved his Boxter what John really wanted was a 911 GT3. John showed me a watch that he wanted to get once just because it was the cheapest thing you could buy that was the same color as the GT3.
John and I would argue the BMW vs. Porsche war for hours. I wish that John could be around for the trouncing that Porsche is going to receive from the new M3…
The life of a Cubs fan is not an easy one but John stayed tough. John and I were in San Jose for some meetings this fall during the playoffs. His Cubs were trying to clinch the pennant and my Red Sox were trying to hold off the Yankees. John and I found a conference room with a projector and, using his laptop and his MLB TV subscription we turned the room into the baseball spot with a 12 foot screen.
Whenever we had downtime from meetings we would head in and catch whatever game was on. John’s passion for the Cubs was contagious and I found myself adopting the Cubs as a second team to root for.
Kurt
1 comment:
Like Kurt, John and I spoke sports on several occasions. During this most recent post-season, we both hoped for a Cubs-Sox World Series. When the Cubs didn't advance, John, with a smile on his face, said "Well, there's always next year..."
John and I also had conversations on Boilermaker and Badger football. Being Perdue grads, he and Heather both, and Heather occasionally traveling to Madison for her career, I think it was growing on him.
John was such a diverse person. He could talk technology one moment, fast cars, family, sports, or wine and all with equal gusto and genuineness. It was like hanging out with your best friend since First Grade.
I consider myself lucky enough to have shared a beer with John after our last project together, the broadcast from which some snapshots were already posted here. We had a laugh about one question that was asked of each of us as we completed our section of the broadcast "Is App Girl(Catherine)/Bill/John available for parties?" - Something from John's fertile, understated sense of humor.
I knew him, briefly, as a passionate family man, technologist, collaborator, and team mate. Above all, a Great Human Being whom I will surely miss. -
Bill D.
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