A Scouter Has Gone Home
Mike Montoya (mmm@YOSEMITE.NET)
Wed, 10 Feb 1999 10:56:00 -0800
Scouters, i know this is long, but we have lost one of our best, and i would
like to ask you all to take a moment and read this and send a prayer this
way for John's family.
Yesterday (Tues), The friends of John Newman gathered together in an old
building in the sleepy town of Mariposa, California to celebrate his life.
As John would have wanted it, it began snowing about the time that some of
us began our journey towards this gathering. The storm was intense, and
within an hour the entire landscape was blanketed with a few inches of the
pure white snow.
As those that John had included in his life began to arrive from all over
Central California, it became evident where John's heart had been in his 44
year life as person after person entered the building in their Scout
uniform. John's Order of the Arrow brothers, his fellow Wood Badge staffers,
the Adults and Youth of Troop 94 that he directly touched on a regular
basis, all took their places and took comfort in each other as we began to
realize the far-reaching impact on Scouting and our children that John had.
John was a man that didn't know how to say that anthem of mediocrity:
"Whatever" Time after time, when circumstances caused some event to begin
to fall apart, John would jump in and take over and put it all back
together, providing the campsite, and all the things needed to have the
event out of his own pocket. The last event that he did this on was a recent
district camporee.
John encouraged all of us to not accept anything but our own best in
anything we did.
The quality that i loved the most in John was the way he provided help to
those that needed it. First of all, he always had a gift of knowing if you
needed help. Then he would magically appear on the scene, with an
opportunity for you to help yourself. He never provided hand outs, but
rather a way for you to work your own way out of the problem. Rather than
give money to the boys to help with their Scouting needs, he would provide a
place for them to come work to earn the money.
As person after person stood to remember John and the things that he had
done for them, I watched several of our young Scouts and former Scouts come
forward to tell how John had impacted their lives. One of John's last
"self-appointed" tasks had been to appoint himself my son, Ben's, Eagle
Coach/Counselor. As Ben stood in front of the group and struggled through
the words, he expressed what John had taught him: To never accept less that
the best you can do, no matter what the task you have set in front of you.
As John's four children stood in front of the group and sang "The Garden
Song", one of John's favorites, the sun broke through the clouds and the
light filtered through the windows and brightened everything and we knew
that John was with us.
The ceremony was closed with a presentation of a Vigil Sash with the trail
sign for "Gone Home" on it and the circling of the Order Members and the
singing of the Order of the Arrow song, as John had asked.
John has left Linda, his wife, and his four children: Rachel, Marcus,
William, and Raymond. Scouts All.
Thank you for taking the time to listen. John was too special to Scouting
for me to allow him to pass in silence, although he would have wanted it
that way. I know that there are some of John's friends out there that would
have wanted to be here, but couldn't. I hope this helps. It helped me.
Mike Montoya
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Mike Montoya, Troop 94 mailto:mmm@yosemite.net
Eagle 1966 * Buffalo WE3-59-96 * CM Troop 94
http://mariposa.yosemite.net/t94/
Wawona Chapter Adviser - Toloma Lodge 64
Greater Yosemite Area Council Webmaster
http://www.inreach.com/scouter/gyc/
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Whether you think you can, or you think you cannot,
you are right. - Henry Ford
