I am honored to have been asked by George and Daphne to say a few words on their behalf.
They wish to thank each and everyone of you for being here tonight to pray with them and to share in their overwhelming grief.
George and Daphne are also grateful for your many kind expressions of sympathy, your much needed support and friendship and above all, your love during his heart-wrenching time in their lives.
It is also their hope and prayer that through their devastating loss, some good could come of it in finding better means of dealing with depression and being attuned to one another by reaching out to one another daily with expressions of love and hope.
But we are not here tonight just to dwell on John's untimeley death, rather we are here to reflect on his life and the joy and happiness he brought to his loving parents.
Daphne and George asked me to share some brief glimpses of their beloved "Johnny," who was the focus of their lives. They want you to know of his achievements in life as a very devoted son and good friend with whom they shared so many unforgettable moments.
This afternoon, Daphne beamed while relating some simple moments in his early years - moments of just being a kid and doing things kids do.
One such moment was when Daphne encourgaged John to enter an American Royal Essay Contest in order to win a spot on one of the floats in the American Royal parade.
Each young contestant was to select a country he wanted to represent and explain why he chose it. He chose to write about Greece and his wonderful yiayia and pappou - and he won first prize! Dressed in a foustanella (a Greek soldier's costume) and carrying nag the Greek flage, Johnny was thrilled to ride in the parade and so were George and Daphne. Perhaps this was the begining of his love for writing and furture journalixm education.
Another moment they recalled was when George was an adviser to GOYA and baseball coach during the years of Father Bouyoucas, Johnny was the proud bat boy and his picture is displayed up here.
George loved being involved in John's sports activities and proudly reflected on the nummerous tennis trophies John had won. They loved going to sports events together or just talking or arguing about sports. It was a beautiful father-son relationship.
In another glimpse, Daphne spoke of the time when the Salk vaccine was first developed and Johnny's elementary school, Hickory Grove, was selected as the first school for inoculating all the children. John was featured in a photo and story in The Kansas City Star.
Today, they also showed me a letter of commendation from an Army General who commended John for his outstanding performance of duty while assigned to the News Center and for his diligent work and positive approach to his dutiies during the Vietnam war. He served as a journalist for the Army in Germany. The last secentence of the letter read;
"Your performance reflects the greatest credit, not only upon the Army but also upon your personal standards as well."
Journalism was John's passion and it was reflected in his career of writing for the KC Kansan for many years. He was very involved in covering the city-government, attending city planning meetings and reporting in depth about the new race track which is being built here.And Daphne smilingly added that he recently got to interfiew and write about Tipper Gore, the vice-president's wife who was here recently.
As the KC Star said today in his obituary, "John was a great sports fan, an avid tennis player and a world traveler." And we will always remember him as a pleasant but quiet young man with a beautiful smile who greeted us at church and many recent events.
Now he will find rest in a place where there is no more pain, no more sorrow and no more suffering."
I would like to conclude with this verse:
"A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam.
and for a brief moment, its glory and beauty belong to our world.
But then if flies on again, and though we wish it could have stayed,
We feel so lucky to have seen it."
May his memory be enternal!
