John Joseph Kachmar

John Joseph Kachmar November 11, 1948-May 1, 2017 What can I tell you about John, a kind, generous and passionate man who was my best friend and companion for 31 years. He loved movies, he loved spaceships and robots and he loved me. John Joseph Kachmar, 68, was born in Trenton, New Jersey, the oldest son of John Joseph and June Doris Crosson Kachmar. He is survived by his wife of thirty years, Diane Cecile Farnsworth Kachmar; his younger brother, Jerome T. Kachmar; Jerome’s wife, Susan O’Connell Kachmar and his beloved nephew, Jeremy Stephan Kachmar. John also leaves behind his cherished cousin, Karen Crosson Bruno and her husband, John Bruno; their children, Justin and Holly; James Crosson; Susan Oberleiton and Kathleen Baszczewski. He is sorely missed by his dear friends of 32 years, Barbara Seifert and Dr. Albert J. Latorra. As per John’s wishes, no funeral or service will be held for him. His favorite charity was St. Jude’s Children Hospital. He liked helping the kids beat cancer. If you like, please make a memorial donation to them in his name and help those brave kids some more. John and I met at the Doctor Who OMNICON Convention in Miami, Florida on January 28, 1986. We both knew Bill Wilson from previous cons. We both came up to Bill at the same time. A pizza dinner together, a proposal on the second day from John and several dates later, we were married on November 22. Bill Wilson was our Best Man. As a child John built plastic spaceship model kits, which were beautifully detailed, according to his cousin, Karen who visited him often. He watched TV, everything, movies, talk shows, soap operas, detective shows and even westerns. John loved Rocky Jones and Men into Space and Commando Cody. He was very proud that he bought the very first Lindberg plastic model of a space ship. Jack (as his family liked to call him) because his father was also John Joseph, made many friends while in school, most notably the late Abby Borek, the late Frank Ingram, Jerry Roman and Bethany Carman. He enjoyed being in the Art Club, on the stage crew and he carried a flag at football games. The flag carriers also shot the cannon, which according to John, was not their best idea, but hey, it made for a great story. John had lots of stories that he loved telling. He loved to make people laugh, especially complete strangers! In 1968, John enlisted in the Air Force. He did basic training in San Antonio, TX, advanced training in Rantoul, IL, and finally was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. He became a repairman for vintage heaters and he also made signs, which was a better use of his talents. Upon his discharge in 1971, John returned home to New Jersey and worked various healthcare related service jobs. John enjoyed taking care of people. When his parents retired to Naples, Florida in 1979, John went with them. He attended Collier County Vo-Tech in search of a Cosmetology degree. Upon receiving his license he found a job in a salon. This didn’t last long because John found out he was allergic to hairspray. As a person who liked to stay up late, John became a night security guard at Admiralty Point Condo. His boss, Ed, loved John. He was very dependable, always checking things out, found water leaks and even guarded during a hurricane. John insisted he was the only night security guard who actually stayed awake! Ed hated to see John leave when he moved to the east coast of Florida to get married. He accepted a job as an OR Transporter at Wellington Regional Medical Center in 1985. John worked there until 1993. In 1988, John started collecting. He would buy what he liked and then buy extra of what was valuable, to finance this hobby. These toys are long gone now. He began to sell these duplicates on eBay and become quite adept at listing and selling at a profit. His “hobby” became another income source for us that helped us finance trips, and costumes and provided the money for me to purchase photos and other materials I needed to include in my four published books. John and I had a lot in common, and many hobbies that overlapped. We enjoyed going to Sci-fi conventions together. John would design and create costumes for us to wear, three of which won prizes. We also enjoyed working with Actor David Hedison at his conventions. John created display signs for selling David’s signed pictures as well as many badges and cards and bookmarks. David really appreciated John’s graphic skills in making David’s table stand out with superior signage at every show. I could not have had the success I have had in my writing without John. Always willing to help, John would always volunteer to fix up whatever photos we purchased to include in the books. He could make them look better. Unasked, he would go search for offbeat trivia that I didn’t know that added more color to my initial research. He made my books better with his discoveries. John enjoyed aiding me, while I was writing my books, often taking care of many other things, so I would have precious time to write and thus meet my contract deadline. He always supported me, he was proud of me, he would brag about my publishing success to anyone who would listen. John was devoted to me. I had never found anyone, who loved me as much as John did. He made me laugh all the time. We enjoyed our life together. It was a 31 year ride that I thoroughly enjoyed. Farewell, my love, you will be missed, and not just by me. I’ll leave a light on. You always did. Diane Kachmar 5/7/2017

John Joseph Kachmar

November 11, 1948 - May 1, 2017