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| Each Thanksgiving I will get John's email about
donation, but only since the beginning of this year I begin to recognize
who he is and how he looks like. The things impressed me the most are his
beard and his friendly smile.
Since I came from China, I had to take communism course when I was a child. There were pictures of Karl Marx, the person who put communism into theory, in the textbook. At that time this course was very boring to me. I never understood what Marx wrote, but his beard impressed me. It was the only foreigner's picture I had ever seen. So I was thinking all the foreigners must have such a big beard. It was very unusual for a Chinese man to have beard. On the class, I was always looking at the picture curiously and wondering how a person with such a big beard eats food. The food may fall down on to his beard!? When I saw John, I noticed his beard immediately. Addition to that, he had a very friendly smile. Although I didn't talk to him that much, I like to see that he was walking in a fast pace and saying hello to everyone warmly. Plus he will send email to everybody on Thanksgiving for a donation drive, I feel he was really a nice guy. It was a shock to know that he passed away so suddenly. I begin to feel how unpredictable life could be. The only way could make me feel better is to think that he is staying in the heaven peacefully now, and saying hello to everybody friendly... He may not know me, but I would never forget him and his friendly smile. |
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| What more can I add to what has already been
said or written about John? Although we were only acquaintances here at
work, his life demands that I add to the words. I met John in 1995 when
I first started working for Xylan. From our very first meeting, I knew that
he was a wonderfully upbeat person with an extremely good sense of humor
and an infectious laugh. Each day that he would greet me, we would share
a joke or two and the rest of the day was lighter for having paused a moment
with him. It was only after the first Christmas at Xylan that I realized what a truly generous and giving person he was. From that time on, I really admired him as a person and the work he was so unselfishly devoted to. In the seven years here, I never saw John get upset with or talk badly about anyone. There is no one I know of that ever had words with him or a mean thought about him. John had a soul as big as the outdoors. What greatness! If only those of us left behind could claim such a legacy. John, the world is a little dimmer now that your candle has gone out. I regret that I never knew you away from work. And though we only knew each other here, I count you as my friend and I will sorely miss you and your goodness. |
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| One of the best memories besides the one that
I used to see his kind face pretty much every morning in front of the office
in the white Alcatel Van is that, last year in company's Halloween celebration
he brought his guitar with him and after we said hi to each other, I said
"all right John, are you gone play a song for us today?" And he
said "Yes, Mam.." and started laughing and trying to make us all
laugh...
I'm glad that I had the privilege to work with him in the same place... His "Hello's" and "kind face around here" will be missed very much... HE WAS AND IS AN ANGEL. |
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The moment I stepped into my cube for the first time,
I was met by John Dexter's infectious, jovial "Good morning!"
Some people can sing or sigh a phrase, John always chuckled his greetings.
He would often take time to stop and share one of his clean little jokes.
He moved quickly through his paces, but never seemed to be in a hurry.
And, he helped us all to be better people through the fund raising at
Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Who can replace John? Who will step forward and take on the mountainous task of collecting and distributing the gifts and food? It is such a great task, it will probably best be handled by a group of people. He did the work of many. Who will take of John's cause? God rest his soul. |