John Foxell

passed away at Richmond University Medical Center. The unofficial mayor of Port

Richmond, John was probably the only person ever to have his cell phone stolen by

one teen, then returned a few hours later by another, with an apology. “He didn’t

know it was yours, man.”

Like Forrest Gump, John had a knack for finding where the action was and

putting himself in the middle of it. His colorful stories could seem unbelievable, but

he always managed to back them up. A reporter on the Augustinian Academy

newspaper in the late 1950s, he needed someone to interview, so he tracked down

Harry Truman. A black-and-white snapshot shows John, his twin Joseph, and his

father with the President. When Truman asked if he was John’s favorite President,

John replied bluntly, “No sir. You dropped the atomic bomb.”

His next interview was with Eleanor Roosevelt, who invited him to have

lunch with her at the UN. Letters he received from Mrs. Roosevelt were among

John’s prized possessions, along with tickets from the Woodstock Festival, where his

job was to distribute hollowed out lemons filled with cottage cheese, sugar, and LSD.

John’s pride and joy was his home, the Abraham L. Merrill House, an 1848

saltbox, landmarked by the New York City Landmarks Commission in 2011. A

modest white when John purchased it, he painted the home flamboyant orange with

black trim, so no one could pass by without a double take.

“Half of a multiple birth,” as he often termed himself, John and his identical

twin Joseph arrived in Albany, New York, on May 25, 1944, to Florence Carey Foxell

and Joseph Foxell, Sr. Seven minutes younger than his brother, John said he took

advantage of that time have his only moments alone with his mother.

The Foxells moved to Staten Island in 1952, where the boys attended Sacred

Heart and Augustinian Academy. Recipient of a Regents’ Scholarship, John attended

NYU, where he was president of the freshman class, while keeping up a full

schedule, as well as working 40 hours a week in the library—one of the “26 jobs

over 43 years in 13 states and Canada,” he spoke of when asked what he did for a

living.

Not content with his 4F draft status after college, John tore up his draft card

and sent it back, which ended with him fleeing to Canada, then to Alaska, where he

worked for a year in a totem pole park. He spent seven years in San Francisco

working in the food stamp office, where actor Danny Glover was one of his clients,

then finally returned to Staten Island in 1981. Here, John worked for NYC Child

Protective Services, and spent 14 years at Family Court in Manhattan, working

closely with the judges, including the now-famous Judge Judy Sheindlin. Through

Judge Judy, John received an award in 2001 from Mayor Rudolph Guiliani as one of

NYC’s top employees.

Traumatized by the events of 9/11, which he witnessed from his office in

lower Manhattan, John began writing poetry to relieve his anxiety. After he retired

in 2005, he continued writing scores of poems, short stories, and essays,

concurrently taking writing classes, and teaching a poetry class for the Center for

Lifetime Learning at Staten Island’s Bernikow JCC. John’s writing is published in two

anthologies produced by his writing group, the Nobelists.

Also a visual artist, John used found objects to create fantastical collage and

sculpture compilations. Most of these are quite dark in nature. An especially

memorable sculpture features a talking, Barbie doll-sized Jesus watching over an

agonizing scene of the Apocolypse, topped by an alarm clock that says, “Time is

running out.”

A contrarian by any stretch of the imagination, John “hadn’t owned a TV since

Kennedy was shot in 1963,” never had a checking account or credit card, refused to

use a computer, and said his email address was “@notinthislifetime.” His

refrigerator was made in 1936, and his stove in 1951. Remarkably, they still worked.

Despite his dislike for TV, John gained notoriety in the past few years as a

recurring guest on the Discovery Science Channel show “Oddities,” and its spinoff,

“Odd Folks’ Homes.” He is the subject of a 2016 documentary, Beware of God, and a

featured actor in a student film, Vera, by Gena Mimozo. He and his home were

recognized with a 2010 feature article in the New York Times.

When he wasn’t creating, John was often traveling. He visited Mexico,

Panama, Europe, every state except Hawaii, and virtually every island in the

Caribbean. He hated flying, but loved cruising and car trips, although he hadn’t

driven since 1989. John referred to himself as “as a package to be delivered,” and

often mentioned how happy he was to have created a satisfying “third act” for his

life.

Among the many who will miss John tremendously are his twin, Joseph

Foxell, Jr., his dear companion Carolyn Clark and her family, and his Nobelist

writers’ group, George Hopkins, Jean Roland, Evelyn Palomba, and Albert Balossi.

John’s wake will be held at the Harmon Funeral Home, 571 Forest Ave., SI, on Friday,

December 9, 2-5 pm and 7-9 pm. Burial will be Saturday, December 10, 11:30 am at

Fairview Cemetery, 1852 Victory Blvd., SI. Friends may gather starting at 10 am at

the Harmon Home.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the organizations John enthusiastically

supported--the Jewish Historical Society (jewishhistoricalsocietysi.org), Staten

Island Philharmonic (siphilharmonic.org), and the Preservation League of Staten

Island (preservestatenisland.org). A memorial celebration of John's life will take

place in the near future. Stay tuned.

Arrangements under the direction of Harmon Funeral Home, Staten Island, NY.