John Vinton Tompkins

John Vinton Tompkins was a modest man, quiet and observant in his ways. He was trustworthy and traditional in his approach to his life and in his relationships. He was tough minded with the kind of "stick to it" attitude that earned the respect of all who knew him. He was also a man who was meticulous and disciplined in virtually everything he undertook. Realistic about life, he was always at the ready, prepared to take on responsibility.

His parents were Vint and Sal Tompkins. John was raised in Toledo, Ohio and Orange County, CA. John was raised with one sibling, his older sister, Susan. He was brought up to be self confident and dependable. These were traits that would serve him well throughout his life and John was always consistently loyal to his family.

As a young child, John was never someone who needed to be the center of attention. He wasn't pushy and never forced his way into games or other activities. John developed a variety of interests, though, and the things he enjoyed doing he did well. He was always curious about the world around him and was often eager to explore it. In his youth John took part in baseball, and in his spare time he enjoyed shooting, fishing, and hunting. However, what John enjoyed most was simply playing and spending time with his many friends.

While his teachers and even his friends generally thought of John as being a serious person, he managed to have a pretty good time in high school as he made that critical transition from adolescence to adulthood. He enjoyed some courses more than others, having favorite classes and teachers. In high school he really took to his math and science classes while he also really enjoyed art. John was a very logical person who enjoyed learning about factual information. Using his exceptional memory, he was able to learn much through observation. John always seemed to have a command of the facts and was able to make it seem as though he could easily master any problem that might be presented to him.

College life brought with it a new set of challenges, but John handled them well. Being a critical thinker who always remained intellectually independent, John was able to focus on the task at hand in order to complete his class work. The ability to efficiently complete the task at hand was a skill that served John well during his college experience. His time in college was cut short as a result of his participation in the Army during the Vietnam War.

Always considered to be a solid friend, John was fortunate to have numerous acquaintances and several very close friends during his life. Since he disliked making generalizations about people and preferred to draw his own conclusions based on direct observation, John was able to see beneath the surface of relationships and became a true friend to those who knew him. He was committed to his friends and valued the trust he placed in them. It was not uncommon for John to go beyond the call of duty for others, and

friends frequently sought him out for advice because he had a knack for coming up with practical solutions to any type of dilemma. While growing up, one of his best friends was Robert "Bob" Schlosser; later in life, he became friends with Rob Potkovich, Bill Blasingale, Rick Bruns and R. W.

On October 4, 1975 John exchanged wedding vows with Lois Mae Hoffmann at the St. Joseph's Catholic Church of La Puente, CA. Compassionate and devoted to Lois, John held endearing, traditional values about marriage and family life. He took the responsibility of marriage to heart, giving it his total commitment. He was a source of strength to Lois and using his gifts at nurturing one on one relationships, he worked hard to make his new family happy.

John brought the same traditional values in his marriage to bear on how he raised his children. He was a good parent to them, always firm yet fair in his dealings. He would always listen carefully and think things through before he acted, even when it was an adverse situation. John was blessed with two children; two sons Matthew and David. His son Matthew and daughter in law Zenia also blessed his life with grandchildren; his granddaughter Anastazia, and grandsons Vinton and Aleksy (born just a couple days after John passed).

John greatly enjoyed what he did for a living. He was a hard worker who expected the same in return from his coworkers. He was skilled at working effectively in small groups and in one on one situations as well as handling solo assignments efficiently. John enjoyed dealing with concrete ideas and could penetrate any amount of fuzzy information to reach the essential facts. Always able to attend to the task at hand, John was excellent at meeting deadlines. He was an efficient worker, one who paid careful attention to detail, allowing sufficient time to complete one task before moving on to the next. His primary occupation was as an Electrical Technician for the US Postal Service, where he was employed for over 35 years. John worked hard to be a team player, doing what was necessary in order to get the job done.

John liked to experience things first hand as well as learn about them. This trait carried over into his hobbies, where he was very methodical in how he organized his activities and categorized things. Since he enjoyed his private time, John always tried to allocate a specific time for working on his hobbies. His favorite pursuits were woodworking, bowling, shooting and his animals. He also enjoyed sports and liked to watch his favorite sporting events whenever he got the opportunity; tops on his list were Angels baseball and Football. John was content to enjoy his hobbies alone but was also willing to share his interests with others.

As a man who always showed great commitment to his family, it's little wonder that John was so active in his sons’ interests. Most notably John was an active adult member for the Boy Scouts of America (Old Baldy Council) for many years. Here he helped to start and run a scout troop, served as a merit badge counselor for many areas of interest, was an adult leader for meetings and scouting outings, and where he had the opportunity to both actively help and get to see both of his sons achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. John was involved with the American Red Cross as a First Aid and CPR Instructor and was also a member of the NRA.

John was a lover of animals and cherished his pets, especially dogs. One of John's favorites was Gemini, a Rottweiler that made he and Lois fall in love with the breed so much that they raised and bred them for over 20 years. Over the years John loved the many generations of Rottweiler's they raised, and the dogs were great companions and friends. Beyond the dogs, John’s family was rounded out by his dozens of animals over the years including cats, birds and horses as well.

When John's retirement finally arrived in 2007, he was well prepared. He always trusted and placed value in what was logical and in the things he knew, so he was very confident in planning his retirement. When he retired he stayed in Chino, California where he and Lois lived for over 40 years. In retirement, he loved having more time to spend with some of his favorite hobbies, notably woodworking, bowling, and their animals. Even in retirement, John continued to stay in touch with his old friends while making plenty of new acquaintances.

John Vinton Tompkins passed away on May 21, 2017 at Kaiser Hospital of Ontario, California. He is survived by his wife Lois, his children Matthew and David, his daughter in law Zenia, his grandchildren, Anastazia, Vinton and Aleksy and his sister Susan. Services were held at Funeraria Del Angel Mortuary in Chino, California.

Commitment is a key word that can be used to describe the life of John Vinton Tompkins.

He was committed to living the life of a good man who was both practical and trustworthy. He was committed to the traditional values that he upheld his entire life. He committed himself to being a hard worker who expected the same effort in return from those around him. Most of all, he was committed to those he knew and loved.