John Francis Pailliotet

John Francis Pailliotet, age 90, of Yuma, AZ, passed away peacefully on January 23, 2022. John was born on May 24, 1931 and raised in Riverside, Iowa by his parents Joseph Pailliotet and Mary Rose Florang. In his youth, John played baseball and basketball and worked on his family's farm and at his father's International Harvester tractor and car dealerships. At age 19 he enlisted in the U.S. Army and

served in post-war Germany from 1951 to 1953 as an Artillery Mechanic.

After an honorable discharge from the Army, he went on to work in the Marshall Islands with Morrison

Knudsen (an American Civil Engineering Firm) in support of the Atomic Energy Commission and the

Pacific Missile Range bomb testing in the North Pacific from 1953 to 1965. He managed a refueling station for U.S. military aircraft transiting the Pacific and later became a General Foreman for U.S. Government construction projects in the Marshall Islands. During this period, he worked five 2-year contracts and lived six-month periods in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil, Buenos Aires - Argentina, Lima - Peru and San Jose - Costa Rica in-between his work contracts.

In 1963 he met Flor de Maria Ugalde of San Jose, Costa Rica and they wed in 1966 in Costa Rica and

were married for 55 years. John and his wife Flor moved to El Centro, California in 1966 and they owned and operated the Kon Tiki Motel. They moved to Costa Rica in 1970 and later moved back to El Centro in 1971. He later purchased the Ranch House Motel in El Centro and owned and operated it from 1971 to 2008. However, John preferred Yuma to El Centro and moved his family to Yuma in 1975 and commuted to/from El Centro for 33 years. He also owned and operated the Kennedy Lane Apartments in Yuma from 1977 to 2019. However, John's passion was the stock market and Wall Street. Starting in 1959, he was a steadfast investor and taught many the benefits of long-term investing.

John's past times included studying martial arts (judo) for over 10 years, sailing and ocean swimming. He was an avid weightlifter and cherished his title as the oldest weightlifter at 4th Ave Gym, working out until his mid 80's. He was a major supporter of Yuma Swimming and traveled over 25,000 miles taking his three sons to swim meets in California, Arizona, and Nevada in the 70's and 80's. He was a year-around boater on the Lower Colorado River in his day cruiser jet boat with his sons and their friends and logged hundreds of miles pulling water skiers. Additionally, he loved the sand dunes and the surrounding Yuma desert and spent numerous weekends with his sons and their friends riding ATC's, quads and dirt bikes in the 80's and early 90's. He also loved camping and spending time in San Felipe and El Golfo, Mexico with his family. And he was an avid Harley Davidson rider for over 20 years.

John was a devout Catholic, a parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi church for 47 years. He enjoyed

passing the collection basket at Mass and supporting St. Francis school, which all his children attended from kindergarten through 8th grade. He was the last to pass of his six brothers and sisters (Robert, Esta, Louis, Constance, Paul and Richard). John leaves behind his wife Flor, their three children, John Jr, Ronald Ronnie and Robert Bebop, his three daughters-in-law, Rachael Horta, Sylvia Oreamun, Rebekha Hahn, five grandchildren, Sebastian, Audrey, Mia, Emma Jo and Lara and one great grandson Maximus. John also had four caregivers who were instrumental in providing him comfort in his final years: Adriana, Claudia, Ashley and Shamra. John was a world traveler, a highly successful investor, and a caring husband and dedicated father and grandfather, and most notably an inspiration to all that

the American Dream is attainable through hard work, tenacity, and perseverance.

A Catholic rosary will held at St. Francis of Assisi Church followed by a funeral mass at 11:30 AM. John

will be laid to rest at Desert Lawn Memorial Cemetery on Thursday, January 27, 2022 following his funeral mass. The family asks that any charitable donations be made in his name to St. Francis of Assisi Church in Yuma, AZ.

Please sign the guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/yumasun