Happy Birthday John!

John's family went to the Cub's game to celebrate his birthday. He would've been 38 this year. Here's a message from John Sr:

Just a quick up date on how John's Birthday at Cubs Park turned out. It was tough inside our hearts for all of us but as John would have wanted we all had fun laughing and cheering and bringing those Cubs in with a victory. We met at the new Ernie Banks statue which is only a few feet from the brick with John's name on it. John would have loved these seats as we were so close to the catcher we all helped the umpire call the balls and strikes ( in our favor of course) We raised our cups and glasses many times in memory of John. Strange things are happening at Wrigley this year and if John is on the job to help get them to the World Series then we better order the tickets now... There are many many fathers that are proud of their sons but I know one thing for sure that there is not one father prouder of their son than I am of mine!

Here's the picture of John's brick:

A Note From John's Sister-in-law

I am happy that I had the privilege to get know John over the years. John was a kind and gentle soul, a good man and a great husband to my sister, Heather. I noticed that he loved my sister well and to me that meant a lot. I have many happy memories of visiting Heather and John. He was not only my brother-in-law, I considered him more like a brother and a friend.

He was always very nice to me, plus I could talk computers with him, being a computer person myself, many times I would bounce thoughts about different computer stuff with John and he would always give me good feedback. John loved to talk about computers, cars, and sports and you could always here the enthusiasm in his voice when he talked about the things he loved. He also loved animals which I always thought was great, because animals were always part of our lives growing up and I knew Heather would still want them in her married life. It was funny, once John and Heather were out driving when they saw a turkey get bumped off the road. They of course stopped to see if the animal was okay. After they loaded the turkey in their SUV, they went looking for the animal’s owner. As they were doing this at one point, Heather climbed back in the SUV and John said the Turkey’s name was Blinky. As Turkey’s go, Blinky liked people and was definitely had been someone’s pet, we never found her owners, but her name was now Blinky.

Another time, when John was visiting us, before he was married to Heather, there was a stray calico cat under our house and John talked her out, he named her Gabrielle. She was his cat first even before Heather and John loved that cat very much, in fact he was taking her to the vet when the crash happened. Gabrielle did come out of the crash okay and I don’t think John would have wanted it any other way. Gabrielle has been cuddling up to everyone to tell us John is okay, which is strange for that cat because she always used to run away when company came.

I am glad that John got to do the things that he loved to do in this life. I did not know until the wake that he got to race his Porsche, which I think is great he loved having fun with that car and he enjoyed life. I just wish that I would have got to see him race.

I do not understand why he had to leave us so soon, but I do know that we are all better people for having known him. I will miss him greatly. I think the one thing besides the memories that I will keep with me when thinking of John is to remember to live life not to put it off till tomorrow.

I want to thank everyone for letting my family; the Zaccagnini’s and Heather know how he touched all your lives. He was very special to us too.

Sarah Whinery

A note from John’s cousin…

It is with mixed emotions that I write this. I am so sad for the loss of my cousin, John, yet I am comforted by all the comments from those who knew and honored him. All of these entries make me think of the good times I shared with him and happy that so many others shared in good times with him as well. There is nothing I can say that has not already been said about John. I love that everyone seemed to capture everything that is my cousin. Everyone knew him like I knew him, some even a little better.

John was the kind of person who would do anything for anyone. He was always smiling and his overall sense of happiness was contagious. I have so many fond memories of my cousin spanning from when we were little kids to becoming adults. I remember the times we played bumper pool at Grandma’s, (I think I may have even beaten him once or twice) all the holidays our families spent together where we just hung out and played… after I moved to California with my family I remember coming back here to visit with John. As we got older the visits included trips to Taste of Chicago, the Sears Tower, hours of conversation and driving “The Course” with him. Then there was the time we crashed Uncle John’s Mustang on “the course.” Oh the fond memories… I remember when he would visit me in California while on trips for business. I introduced him to friends of mine and being John, he made impressions on them that will last their lifetimes.

I will forever remember John as having the best smile and always making me laugh. I will remember him being a great son to my Aunt Linda, the best brother my cousin Paula could have, a very loving husband to his wife, Heather and not only a great cousin to me but also a good friend.

I take comfort knowing that whatever God has planned now for John he will make us all proud. I will forever miss him…I love you John. Thank you for all the times we shared!

Your cousin,
Kim

A Message from John's Aunt

I read that people said John was a kind and generous gentle man. Yes he was genuinely one of the kindest anyone would know. He always made time to share himself and help anyone who needed help with, of course technical things. I remember getting the first computer in our house and calling him several times so he could talk me through things. He never minded, He was always courteous, friendly, and kind, and without complaints.

John was godfather to my youngest child Colleen. He always was interested in what she was doing. They had a special bond, like dad and daughter, but more special because their bond was always around fun things. He always attended any performance she was in, which mean’t alot to her. John loved toys and he always bought her something creative and fun. I think it was also a toy he wanted to play with and they did. As she got older he truly spoiled her with designer things and such. I think they both had fun excitement in the bond they had. She loved him very much.

My two other children D.J. and Kerrie were not only cousins to John but, also great friends. They have so many memories growing up with together. Many of those were the fun get togethers for birthdays... Standing around the cake trying to blow each other candles out and the parents telling them, don’t do that, it’s John’s birthday! One memory we always talked about till this day is when John was a little toddler and his parents told him to go to bed, he would say I can’t find my pacifier, so, everyone would look for an hour. Mom and dad would say then go without it. John would say I think I know where it is!! It’s it my shoe. He was pretty sharp even then. He would hide it every night. Smart boy!

We knew John was so happy in his life with Heather. They loved each other very much and that was always evident. He found himself a great person and I am sure they have many many wonderful memories.

I am so honored to have John as my nephew. He was raised to be a wonderful great person. I know that everyone who has been touch in life by him is truly blessed. There is more for him to do somewhere and I am sure he’ll get the job done. For myself and my family we love you and you will be forever in our hearts. Thank you for being who you were and letting us be a part of you life..

Aunt Carol

A Message from John's Dad

I just wanted to say that what I read on this blogspot has really helped me in trying to stay strong for our family. This is not an easy task and no parent should ever have to deal with the loss of a child. You all have just filled my heart with even more love for John (if that is possible) and have given me a welcome gift of knowledge of what John was like when out in the work place.

I knew he was good at what he did, and when he had a passion for something whether it be work or play he would give the maximum effort and then some more. He never left a job half complete as it was like he was on a mission to get it done and get it done right.

I would like to share with you some of my favorite memories and thoughts of my son. I guess I'm to blame for John's love of sports and fast cars. I put that baseball in his hands before the nurse at the hospital could even tell us it was a boy. Dividends paid off as at 8 years old he was named MVP of his little league team. Baseball lasted through high school but John then came home one day from school and Linda and I just looked at him and said what is that? Well he had on a big white helmet and a white vest and he was holding a sword. John said I just joined the fencing team. So for the next two years we had to watch John be Zorro, but actually he was quite good the sport.

Now comes the love for cars as I was going through the mid-life crisis and I asked John what kind of car can I buy that is cheap but fast? Well the 1989 mustang 5.0 was the choice. John had decided it was time to get familiar with the power and torque of dads car so he took it for a cruise (without dad knowing of course) and it was really fun till dad had to go get the car stuck in a tree a few miles away from the house. Being great at researching things John said after the Mustang was fixed that he would like to try that drive again because now he knows where that tree is!!

I could go on and on with memories with my son but I will finish off with the computer ones. I want you all to know dad could talk for hours with John on sports and cars but computers well that is where John and I find a communication gap. He usually would lose me in mid sentence and I would be left saying What? I realized John was gifted when at eight years old we bought a new Webber Grill and they just came out with them and I was trying to put it together and all I heard from this little guy was it goes there dad not there. Here let me show you It has to go this way to work. It was then that I knew some day he would be very successful and very good at whatever field he chose.

He sure proved me right and you all helped confirm it with the high praise in your comments..thank you. Finally John built dad a computer and dad has been trying ever since to learn how to use it. We have a standing joke in the family as John would say dad called today and everyone else woulds say so what is wrong with his computer this time. I think it went something like this "John how do you get this to do that" John would then tell me and I would say could you run that by me again in English? I know when John gets that network heaven address and he sees email from dad the reply will be "buy a new one"

I love my son very much an there is not enough words out there to say how proud I am to be John's father. I will miss him so deeply and will have a private cry every day till God takes me and then we can catch up. Again my heartfelt thanks goes out to the Cisco family, my family and John's friends. for all your very kind and sincere thoughts. Thanks for sharing the stories guys...it helps.

Sincerely,
John's Dad

John's Brother-in-Law Shares His Memories of John

John Zaccagnini and I were brothers-in-law, but neither of us had any regular brothers. Just girl siblings.
After I met John for the second time, I remember remarking to my sister Heather about how I had never heard anyone talk so much or so fast.

"Oh, he hardly talks when you're not around", she said.

I know that many family, friends and co-workers, might find it hard to believe that anyone considered John quiet, still others might have trouble believing he talked much and fast. I think that John had a lot to say about many things, and when those things weren't at hand, he was conserving energy. He was a smart man, an articulate man, a generous man.

He was good at what he did. After he got riffed in the wake of the dot-bomb crash, his skills and his specialties were so attractive that he found a niche within weeks, when so many of us were jobless for months. When I met him he was with ACC, and he moved to Shomiti, Cacheflow, Fineground, Cisco, all the while delivering on the Zaccagnini promise, everywhere he went.

I am especially lucky, and especially sad, since my relationship with my brother-in-law was really only for fun. All we ever did together was recreational -- mowing pastures, building fences, digging big holes, filling in holes, clearing rubble, reading emails with our PSPs, talking about routing and web caching, putting the horses out, putting the horses in, and travel -- you know, fun stuff.

My family are part of the rural culture of work, where work is just something you do while you're talking. You show up for the fellowship and you joke around all day and somehow a great deal of stuff gets moved from one place to another. John accepted the fellowship of hard work and performed it with good humor, but then he did everything with humor.

He especially liked the irony of repeating a funny joke long after it was funny, so that it became sort of "meta-humor". Whenever the room lights blinked, John would say "did the power just go out, or did I have a stroke?", and whenever anyone asked John if he had gotten a haircut, he would say "yeah, it was gettin' all down in my eyes." John's enourmous, shiny, bald head was very easy to find in crowds. My head's big too, of course, but it's not shiny. I think that's probably why women liked John, because he was shiny. And funny. And good natured. And he drove cool cars.

John was a good friend, and not a fairweather friend, obviously, because he was a Cubs fan, after all. Any man can love a winning team, or even a team that played in the first game of the World Series within that man's lifetime. But it takes character to be a Cubs Fan. Holy Cow...

I will miss him, I'm not even sure that I realize he's gone yet.

Dorrel Alan Whinery

John's Mom About Her Son

I'm very proud to tell you all I am John's mom. I am writing this with an extremely heavy heart. John was the BEST son a mom could ask have. All the kinds words you have written about him, multiply them by a trillion, and that is how deep my love and respect go for him. He always had time for me. He was always concerned with what I needed. He insisted my computer, my digital camera, my cell phone had to be configured to the limit. I only wanted to be able to use them without having to call him each time and bother him because I forgot what he told me to do. Some of our best conversations were on the phone as he drove home from the airport. When I read your names on your beautiful tributes, I feel like I know you because John spoke so highly and often about each of you. John loved his Cisco family and was passionate about his work. Our biggest joke was after he told me about something he was working on at the time, I would say, Wow, that sounds great, now can you tell me what that means in English!!! He always smiled and shook his head.

He was a wonderful husband. A city kid who had a farm, horses, animals, pastures, fences to mend, feeding chores for the horses and so-on. He learned to do all of it and NEVER complained. He had a tractor, a bob cat and a riding mower. He did like toys! Heather would just shake her head and smile. They were a great team.

He loved his Porsche. Right now it is in my garage. Not that John doesn't have a garage space in his heated garage for it, but, John had to take it out for one more ride and the weather turned ugly and he couldn't get it up the hill to his house to so he drove it over to my house and put it in my garage. I assured him I would not take it out for a spin! He just laughed.

I have so many beautiful memories of John. His sister used to tease him and tell him he was mom's "Buttercup". He was. I will never understand why he was taken from us so early in his life, but, I have to believe there is work somewhere for him to do, elsewhere. He will be in my heart everyday and this heart of mine bursts with pride. I am thankful that so many lives were touched by John. Your kind words are a comfort.

On behalf of the entire Zaccagnini family, thank you all for knowing and loving my John, and taking the time to write down your thoughts. I will treasure these quotes forever.

John's Mom

A Message from John's Sister

John is my brother. On behalf of my family I want to personally thank each and every one of you who have shared your special stories and memories of John. I am overwhelmed by the wonderful words you have all shared. I am not surprised that John touched so many peoples hearts. John was indeed the very best, most genuine person I have ever known. He has been my mentor my role model and my friend. It gives me great pride to know that many share the same feelings about my big brother and although my heart is broken, I know John would not want me to be sad and hurt, in fact he would want me to remember the cherished times with a smile on my face.
He will be always missed and I will carry him in my heart forever. My heart and my love, always and forever.

I have so many wonderful memories of John, I could write all night. In June of this year John took our mom and I to San Francisco for 5 days and that has been the most consecutive time I have spent with my brother in a really long time. Our first night there John and I put mom to bed and went for drinks. We sat and talked for hours about, life, work, and the future. John had so many plans and I'll never understand why this has happened but I will be forever grateful for the 5 days we shared and the special memories from that trip. John had planned every hour of every day that we were there, in fact he even slept with his laptop next to him (Seriously!) It would be 6 am and he would be online making sure he knew where we were going and what the day would bring. That was John taking care of everything as usual. What he had forgotten was that I was an incredible slow poke and not a morning person, but he didn't care instead he joked about me being a princess and rescheduled the days...

John is my daughter's godfather. Sofia is 3. She cannot comprehend this tragedy but she will always know her Uncle Johnny. John bought her a yellow baby boxster Porsche (just like his) last year. We live next to a bike path that is pretty steep. Sofia loved to ride her boxster down the path at a much faster pace than I have ever been comfortable with. There is a tree at the bottom of the path and usually Sofia has excellent steering skills managing to race down the hill and turn safely onto the sidewalk. Once and only once she managed to roll into the tree. She grabbed her boxster, came up the driveway and said "Mommy I crashed the Porsche" - Something I thought I would not ever here from my little princess - I couldn't help but laugh because the next words out of her mouth were maybe uncle Johnny can get me a brown one because the yellow boxster had a mark from the tree on the hood.

Last month my husband bought a 1988 Porsche 911. Not just any 911 but one that had been previously owned about 9 years ago by John. It was John's first Porsche. Brian would be joining the Porsche Club of America this year and he had plans to go to the track with John once the weather turned. I know that John will be watching down and guiding Brian and am so thankful we have a remembrance from John that was so special to him.

-Paula


(Editor's Note: I had a picture of the '88 911 John emailed me and thought it'd be appropriate to post that here along with Paula's message)