Eulogy for John P

 John P was one of the funniest guys I ever knew. And he was cool because of that. When you were with John, you were having a good time; you were where the fun was.

We lost regular contact over the years, I am sorry to say, but our friend Bob B kept me updated. Bob introduced me to John in our Clementon days, when we were about 11 or 12, old enough to venture into the next neighborhood over, in this case, to play football behind Trio Tire.

I remember John buying whole boxes of baseball cards at Bee Gee Candy on the Pike in Clementon. Whole boxes! Boggled my young mind. He always thought bigger than the rest of us. Later, of course, he made a business out of selling collectible trading cards, comic books and such. I recently learned he ran the business for over 40 years, and he had named it Thunderball Books, which figures, because he was a big James Bond fan from very early on.

John's grandparents handed down their 1955 Pontiac Star Chief sedan to John's mom. She and John drove it for a while, but at some point, the hood flew open and got bent up, so they replaced the hood with one from a junkyard, a salmon-colored hood on the black car. It really stood out. When the family was getting ready to move to Barclay Farms in Cherry Hill (to Winston Way, as John said it, We're moving to Winston Way), John's dad said they were not taking that odd-looking car to the new upscale neighborhood, so John asked if I wanted to buy it. It was my first car, and it cost me all of $20. Of course, back then $20 could buy you 20 six-packs - if you didn't mind drinking Schmidts...

One of my favorite JP stories was when John and some guys were playing poker near Rutgers-Camden and two guys came thru the door with a shotgun. It was obvious the card players all were going to lose their money just then, so John pulled some bills off his pile and threw them on Bob H's pile and said, "Here's that money I owe you!" Quick thinking.

I am sure John made most people's list of Unforgettable Characters I Have Known.

I went to sleep thinking about John shortly after learning of his passing, and sure enough, he showed up in my dream. I was again having a good time just hanging out with John. As we parted, he said, "I'll be in touch."

So long, John. I'm glad I knew you. It was always fun. May you rest in peace.