When one first thinks of John they imagine a selfless man with a jovial laugh and friendly hardy voice. Whenever he was in your building - you knew it. His voice permiated the room as a reminder to "stop sweating the small stuff." He seemed to live a happy existence with not a care in the world. In reflection...it seems like his purpose in life was to bring a smile and joy to those around him. This was a natural ability for John.

I accompanied John on a trip to Vons in Agoura a few days before Turkey Day to make a mad dash for Thanksgiving dinners and ALL the fixings for fifteen families in need. I remember he was in charge of grabbing all the turkeys and stuffing in one aisle and I was in charge of the yams, pumpkin pies, gravy& cranberries. We met at the check out stand with 15 meals for 15 families in about 15 minutes! John was running late and needed to get those dinners asap.

One Xmas season we had a FUN time shopping for the little ones at Kmart in Westlake. He had $1100 for toys and we spent every penny of it! It was so much fun going up and down the aisles with John picking out tons of toys. I could barely see out my rearview mirror with all those toys in the back!!

John was the purple heart of Xylan/Alcatel. I jumped on the charity band wagon three years ago and coordinated a yearly trip the week before Xmas to the Jonathan Jacques Children Cancer Center in Long Beach with a group of Alcatel folks. I knew with the charity work John had already begun the Children's Cancer Center would be well taken care of. We would go to the hospital with wrapped toys, John would dress up like Santa and the well enough kids would sit on his lap and receive a toy in the hospital play room. We would also give toys to the children's siblings in the hospital room. We sang Xmas carols up and down the hospital hallway even though we were off key. Imagine John singing "Deck the Halls" especially the fa-la-la-lala-la-lala-la part~! ;o) We provided cookies and juice donated from the Alcatel cafeteria, and we got free transportation and a driver to and from the hospital. For the children that were too ill to make it to see Santa in the play room John would go to their bedside and bring that child a gift. I remember the mommie's of sick infants getting tears in their eyes when John came into the room and would walk in with his jovial "hoo hoo hoo!!!" impression. John had a healing spirit and would look into those children's eyes and bring a glimpse of hope and joy into their hearts.

John will never be forgotten and always be missed. He touched so many lives in so many ways.