John F. Lillien
-

John and I were good friends during and just after High School. John always had a big "hello" for everyone. I am going to estimate that John died (way to young) about 15 years ago. He was someone that was just a lot of fun to be around. Does anyone remember the parties John had when his parents were out and his sister Ann chaperoned?

Dan Fischer

John lived his life precisely under his terms and timing. I’ll always remember him as an inveterate planner and organizer. It was also hard to miss his elusive and secretive side. He had a way of showing up out of the blue…only to disappear as he arrived. John will always retain a warm place in my heart for his friendship, humor and character.

There are so many great memories of John; from his days scraping the floors at the Paris Pastry Shop, scooping ice cream with him at Van Dykes for nearly three years, hanging out at Jaicks’ pool room, riding bikes off the dock at Graydon, and watching him portray a bank robber in Jay Sipp’s infamous first film effort.

Most of his friends always believed John was destined for politics. In fact he worked through an election cycle with a congressman from Wisconsin leading him to Washington DC. While John’s political ambitions never came to fruition, he found his connection to politics through his career as captain at the prestigious Jean Louis restaurant at the Watergate in Washington DC. In fact, John spent a number of months near the end of his life working at the White House on Aids awareness issues.

Sandy Chapman

John was one of the nicest people you ever wanted to know. We lived in the same area, me on Summit St and he was around the corner on Hillcrest, next to the Kilbournes between Wilson and Glen. We would see each other around our neighborhood, at school and at the Jaicks' house and when, in junior year, the Ridgewood Little League decided to let me manage a team, he happily volunteered to be my assistant coach. We were not much of a team, but we had a hell of a lot of fun. I had just gotten my license so we'd bomb around town, transporting the team in my Dad's Kingswood Estate nine passenger station wagon. I cannot believe that parents would willingly allow us to whisk away their precious offspring. John's enthusiasm was infectious, more than compensating for his less-than-stellar baseball acumen. But we lost track of each other after high school and when the RHS reunion site went up and I saw that John was among the deceased, I was dumbstruck. Here was a guy so happy and full of life that I was envious and yet he was gone. I am not quite sure about what path his life led him on, but I know he made a lot more people happy to have known him. He is missed.

Norman Wechsler