Thursday, August 4, 2022
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To Cynthia and Justus,
Words cannot express how sorry I am for the loss of my hard-working colleague and friend John. He and I joined the Department of State within 8 months of one another, so we bonded being the "newbies" in a division that hadn't seen a lot of staff changes at that point. We didn't always see eye to eye on local government and planning issues, but it didn't impact our friendship or ability to chat with one another about a whole slew of topics from sports to water and wastewater systems and everything in between. He was always first to volunteer to lend a helping hand, saying "I'll take care of it," and always available to brainstorm a creative way to solve a problem. He saw humor in life, and was always willing to share a laugh on some of the oddities and quirks of government. He seemed happiest at the camp with CC, where he spent the majority of summer when we were home telecommuting during the pandemic.
Above all else, John was a family man. He always made it so clear how fiercely he loved you both. I'm going to miss hearing the crazy laugh ringtone on his phone when Justus would call to check in on his dad. He was so looking forward to going to London with you in December and life with the new hip. He would often tell us about the travel and adventures you and your mom would both go on, and Dad was on call and ready to pick you up when you got home. I'm going to miss being able to turn around and talk to him about the news of the day, or ask him about something in the North Country or talk about the movie he'll be seeing at Spectrum that night or going on a Dunkin run for iced tea. We're missing him a lot. Sending you both, and CC my sincerest condolences on the loss of a truly great guy. Paula Gilbert
