Posted by Deme Clainos on February 18, 2014:

Everyone who met John liked him and they felt he liked them in return. They were right; John did take time to get to know each person he met. But it goes a lot deeper than that. In many ways, John was bigger than life and we saw evidence of that early on. In high school, John was 5 ft. 6 but that did not stop him from competing on the football team as an offensive lineman. Anyone who watched him play rugby at the Academy would be impressed. As an Army pilot in Vietnam, he was fearless and displayed a knack for finding enemy action. Even in civilian life, John continued to accomplish "big things". After earning an MBA from Harvard and a brief stint with Goldman Sachs, John decided build his family's small restaurant into a top-flight restaurant chain. Based on a $250,000 SBA loan he obtained, he tore down his small family's restaurant, along with several other businesses, and built his first Coach House restaurant. Even though John excelled at several endeavors, his biggest accomplishment was his family. He was completely devoted to his wife, Stella, and was very proud of his children, Greg, Diana and Jason. During John's time at West point was when the Zoo was formed, a group of cadets bound together by friendship that lasts to this day. The Zoo will miss John, but will always have a special place for him in their hearts.

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