John

Born: 10/31/49
Died: 06/14/91

John Wintering Jr.

My brother John was born on Halloween, October 31, 1949. We were just thirteen months apart. John was always a good student and a hard worker. He started his first job as a bagger at Big Bear Grocery Store in Upper Arlington at the age of 16. He worked hard and saved enough money to buy his own car. While he attended Watterson High School, he showed great promise for salesmanship by twice winning the students` door to door fundraising contest to sell Watterson`s delicious chocolate turtles! While in high school, he won the highest award given by the state of Ohio to a high school science project. For this project, John grew his own orchids in a hothouse he built and placed in front of the picture window in the living room of our home on Dublin Road. His high school science teacher, Sr. Amy, just loved John! While still at home, he bought a beautiful German Shepherd puppy named Harlow which he trained and exhibited in dog shows. Harlow was one of the most outstanding German Shepherds at the time. John had Harlow bred and he successfully raised a beautiful litter of puppies. John attended Ohio State University where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. Later he moved to Kentucky and Florida while employed by Steak and Ale Restaurants. In the 80`s he moved to Atlanta and I would see him every other year while visiting friends down there. I remember what a great cook he was when I would go over for dinner, and what a wicked sense of humor he had! His skill and amazing “green thumb” with plants was still with him. He had huge orange and grapefruit trees growing in his house; all had been started by John from seed! When he became ill with HIV, he was a very successful recruiter in the medical field. He returned to Columbus and was lovingly cared for by his family, particularly his sister Diane and his brother Michael. He passed away June 14, 1991 and is greatly missed.

—Kathy Nagy-Wintering