I met John the first time I went to Campbell, CA for Fineground Networks five years ago. A bunch of us went to a local brewpub for dinner after a long day of meetings. As the night went on more and more people dropped off until it was Just John and I…and a waitress with a scowl on her face.
This set the tone for my friendship with John. He was a great guy and was just easy to get along with. We would work all day, go out and have a good time at night and usually shut the place down. We rarely drank a lot but the night just disappeared as we shared stories, ideas, work problems, home life whatever. John was a genuine person and you just enjoyed talking to him.
One trip out to California we decided to “go driving”. For John, Catherine and I that meant driving FAST (OK, well John and Catherine drove fast and I tried to keep up). Luckily Catherine and some friends had some fast cars specifically a Porsche 911, a Honda S2000 and a couple of BMW M3s. We set out from San Jose and headed to the coast through the mountains. Taking turns in different cars. I remember early on looking in my rear-view mirror and seeing John in the S2000 sliding sideways through a corner with his passenger screaming like a girl. John had the biggest grin you could imagine on his face. That day was a day you never forget.
When everyone else stayed near the meeting we stayed near the fun. It did not matter that we had a 45-minute drive each morning and evening, especially when John had used points to get a Shelby GT-H Mustang or a Nissan 350Z. Every group meeting was a chance to catch up, share stories, eat a good dinner and more often than not a good bottle of wine.
John, in addition to being a superb SE also had a large farm with many horses. One time he shared with me the details of breeding those horses. I guess I always thought that you put two horses together, played romantic music and hoped. In reality it involves heavy equipment and gloves that go up to your shoulder. I was nearly on the floor laughing as John described the process he went through.
At his job John was flat out the best. He could do things with technology that were frankly unnatural. He thought of ways to solve problems that others would never think about and he would get the sale more often than not. When I ran into trouble he was the first person I thought of and he rarely let me down.
On December 14, 2007 I once again reached out to John for help he said that he was running out to a meeting and that I could call him in his car. We joked about him staying safe and avoiding the telephone poles. That would be the last time I would talk to him. When I called a few minutes later he was already gone.
I will miss you John. I will miss your help. I will miss your easy smile, stories and jokes. I will miss your friendship.
Kurt
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