I have fond memories of John, especially when he was over at my house on the occasion of those gatherings that I used to host from time to time. He had his own unique way of seeing things and commenting on them, which he was not shy about doing.  It was always entertaining to hear what he had to say, and whether I agreed or not, I was always ready to listen.  I will miss hearing his viewpoints.  As I have noted in the past, I believe his surgery did wonders for him by his own testimony. He told me how much better he felt after it.  In that respect both the length and quality of his life were certainly improved by his decision to undergo that procedure.  Requiescat in pace.

Continued .... from prior message

Arriving at the top at midnight, we headed for camped and turned on the cassette tape for Elton John “rocket man” and felt our lives were saved a couple too many times on this trip. 

It was a 10000-mile trip to end back in Chicago. 
Dan Melnyk

Bucket list item! John and I too a cross-country tour in my TR6 just after we finished High School, we drove through Wisconsin into Canada and across the king’s highway, camping equipment in a trunk strapped to the truck of the car. Through beautiful provinces with the top down going through the Canadian Rockies all the way to Vancouver, BC, where we boarded a ferry to Victoria island. From there we camped and then rented a boat and rented scuba equipment to go off in the Pacific Ocean, not knowing what we were doing. 
We threw out the anchor and off we went diving in the ocean with no one on the boat. As our air emptied, we came up only to be shocked to find the boat was gone! John was in a panic as he frantically swam toward the shore, a mile away. I looked around and saw a peninsula in the distance, I blew up my vest and laid on my back to prepare for the long swim. As I reached the peninsula, I had hoped the boat was behind it and lo and behold, there it was!
I got back in and immediately went to find John on the shore which he swam to. 
After that we headed down highway one in Washington, Oregon and California, cruising without tunes and the top down with the beautiful backdrop. We cut on over before LA and headed to the Grand Canyon, we planted our tent and got ready for the next day. We filled out long sleeve shirts with oranges and headed down the canyon with no map, no clue, just looking for the river at the bottom. However we took a wrong turn and no river to be found, we kept walking and found ourselves drawling down mountain crevasses looking for the bottom at which point we stopped and said “ if we go further they will be coming in for us with helicopters, so we turned around and headed back for the long walk up, the sun started going down and the air chilled as we found ourselves walking up the mountain with only a full sky of bright stars leading out path, but as we walked we stepped in donkey dung as we could not see our feet in the dark.

Don Quijote Restaurant in Valparaíso, IN   October 11, 2014

Always happy at family gatherings
Will be missed

John was a lifelong friend to me from our time growing in Chicago. Although we didn't see very much of each other in recent years I will miss John very much. His heart was in the right place.

Our deepest sympathy to Nancy and family.

David and Diane Nars

Nancy, I am so sorry for your loss.  Know that you are in my prayers.

Sorry for your loss. Prayers for your family. Love, Nancy Balsamo

Condolences to Nancy on John’s death. I know he’d been fighting a number of ailments. He and I met for a time at Baker’s Square restaurant for breakfast and good conversation. 
Didn’t realize John and my brother, Ron, were born in 1953. And unfortunately they have passed. A hard to accept piece of information.

Nancy, we were so sorry to hear about John’s passing. We have many great memories of you and John and times we spent together. Remember when we took the bus to Rib Mountain in Wisconsin for a weekend of skiing? We had lot of time on the bus ride to talk and learn more about John and he learned more about us. We remember when you and John had us over for a duck dinner. I am not a big fan of duck, but John’s duck was cooked so nicely and was not greasy. It was the best duck I ever had. We remember visits to your home with the birds and the fire pit in the backyard. And our visit to the Don Quijote Restaurant in Valparaiso, Indiana and many more. Unfortunately as we got older we all had issues which prevented our getting together but we will always hold our memories close and will miss John.    Linda and Paul Houdek

John was a wonderful person and I am so sorry to hear about his passing.  I am sending condolences to his wife, Nancy and to his sisters, Joyce, Janice and Joanne.  You are all such kind people.
Elaine Bridges

So sorry to hear of the passing of John ,
Prayers to the family .
Bill & Sue Bridgeford

I decorated my "fisherman's  guest kitchen"to him. He made this  custom pole and it has his autograph on it. I also have his favorite lure he used on it ! Hanging on my ceiling in there are a dozen other poles he actually made. I'm really proud to honor his fishing skills in my lake house.

Johnny was definitely a favorite to have conversations with , fishing or otherwise!

OBITUARY

John J Honkisz

June 23, 1953 – August 18, 2024

Chapel Hill Gardens South Funeral Home & Cemetery

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