Thursday, November 7, 2024
Add “loyal friend” to John’s obituary. For a year following high school, John and I were roommates at Columbian Prep School in Washington, DC, then Plebe Year at the Naval Academy. It was there that John answered his calling to lacrosse by none other than Willis “Bildy” Bilderback, (Hall of Fame class of 73) who was then head coach of the Plebe lacrosse team. Navy had few recruits who played lacrosse back in those days, and Bildy filled out the ranks with football players. John, a fullback at Brooklyn Poly, was a perfect fit on defense. We were undefeated. 20/200 eyesight by the end of Plebe year disqualified John from promotion to sophomore year; so, he moved on to Cornell and the rest is history.
I’m truly honored to have been one of John’s many friends and inspired by the contributions he and others have made to the evolution of lacrosse in the USA since the late 50’s.
