Dear Sandra,
I would like to express my sincere sympathy on the death of your father, a dear, old friend of mine. I was so very saddened when I heard of his passing as I had been trying to reach him several times without success, and had remembered he had moved to be with family, but I wasn’t sure of names. Although I’m glad my daughter Julie found you on Facebook, it was a such a hard thing to hear that your father had died just a few short weeks before, I only wish I could have talked to him once more.
Years ago, back in Milan where our friendship began, John played tackle next to my left end position. He was the fastest man on our league championship team. As we all know, John was not only the best shot putter in Michigan, he was possibly the best in the whole country and we were all proud of him.
I also knew John’s mother, who was employed as the cleaning lady in our high school. I would always see her waiting at the bottom of the stairs as we rushed past. She reminded me of my own mother, and was a very kind person. I also played football with his brother George and remember brother Gustave as well, both I believe served in WW2.
Dave Shelton, another classmate one year behind us, and I drove from Naples and Indiantown to see John several times until my wife and I moved back to Michigan two years ago. The three of us liked to go to lunch over off I75 at Bob Evans. We sat and reminisced and John always talked of how proud he was of his family. John, Dave and I had a special love for our roots in Milan and we greatly enjoyed talking of our old times together.
Always remember that your father was a special person to someone who cared about him for many years and was grateful for his friendship.
May God Bless You,
Sherman Collins
