It is with the deepest sadness that we publicly announce the death of John Gower Michelin on August 19th, 2023. John was born in Burbank, Ca to loving parents MaryLou Gower Michelin and Adam Michelin on January 11, 1977. John was born into a loving home with three older siblings, Jackie, Adam Jr and Michele where he was adored by all. He later became a big brother to Danny when his father remarried to Kathy Dodge, who was a loving and supportive step mother to him. He was a curious and active child, that loved the water and being outside, in fact making him come in would be a challenge his mother would face for years to come as John was always most at home in nature. With his father he made some of his fondest childhood memories camping and adventuring particularly in the snow.

John’s immensely vivacious personality blossomed at a very young age and he very soon learned that he had the gift to make people laugh and see wonder in the world. As he grew these qualities grew with him as did his passion for learning, which made him a natural performer and teacher. He loved to travel, a love that was inspired by his mother and sister Michele when they took multiple trips back and forth across the US by car exploring all they could along the way. In his later years he traveled to Europe and South America always studying the areas he would go to extensively before arriving so that when there he was able to seamlessly navigate through any situation. This attention to detail carried him through many aspects of his life and allowed him to excel as a computer and software engineer and later find his true calling in teaching. As a computer software teacher John reached thousands of students helping them to see their potential and setting them on life changing paths to success. A letter from a student read “you’ve helped me, inspired me and motivated me in more words then I can describe…You have such a contagious passion for problem solving” John thought that failing was the most fun one could have, for when you failed you learned so much more about the problem and yourself. He would later say that the lives he touched through teaching would be his legacy on earth.

John attended Royal High School in Simi Valley, Ca where he excelled in wrestling, dabbled in football and wowed audiences in the drama department. It is there that he met his first wife Megan. They later married and enjoyed a long relationship founded in friendship, a friendship that continued even after their divorce.

John immersed himself completely into all things that interested him and had the innate ability to master anything he set his mind to. His talents extending to cooking, building, leather work, painting, gardening, physics, quantum mechanics, 3D printing, programming, computer engineering, wood working, performing, perfecting and identifying a multitude of accents, writing, teaching, camping/outdoor survival, harmonica and he was beginning to explore his life long dream of stand up comedy. John was a connoisseur of many things, with culinary delights being high on his list. There is nothing that he wouldn’t try “three times”, he said that you had to taste the world to see if you liked it, and there was no limit to what he wouldn’t adventure to eat, the more unusual the better! He was a regular participant at the Renaissance Fair in Irwindale for almost a decade, with his ex wife Megan, where they cultivated many friends and hosted lavish parties where he dazzled the guests with his culinary skills. John loved an audience and spread his joy with a thick Scottish accent as he strolled the grounds of the fairs displaying his fervent Scottish pride in a full kilt and maybe a joke or two about sheep. He believed in living life to the fullest and that’s exactly what he did. In his far too short 46 years he lived more life than most, always saying yes to any adventure that came his way.

The one dream John had not accomplished finally became his reality when he married his friend of 26 years, soulmate and mother to his Goddaughter, Alexa Small Michelin, his dream of becoming a father. He glided into the roll of Dad to Ami, Jackson and Charlie with such ease, ready to love and support them unconditionally and quickly became the missing piece to their life’s puzzle. He will forever live on in these lives that he blessed with so much love. As John would say to his partner, “It’s forever you, me and the three”.

John is survived by his wife Alexa, children: Ami, Jackson & Charlie, parents: Adam Michelin Sr & Kathy Dodge , mother in law Claudia Avitabile, siblings: Michele Nesci, Adam Jr & Danny Michelin, siblings in law Christopher Nesci, Adam, Chris, Kimi & Emily Avitabile and nieces & nephews: Heather Yount, Emily & Nicholas Michelin and Mina Avitabile, ex wife Megan Michelin and the entire Bruton family and countless loving cousins and friends from coast to coast. Loved ones that he joins that have already left us are his mother MaryLou, sister Jackie, uncle Jim, aunts Ann Gower & Dorothy Michelin, grand parents Marilyn Michelin, Robert & Helen Gower, Clayton Dodge and some dear departed friends, most recently Joe Kelly.

As we navigate the loss of this rare gem of a man I leave with you the words that he so lovingly whispered into his beloved daughter Ami & cherished niece Heathers ears when they were babes in his arms…

“You are amazing, and there is nothing that you can not do”…May we all move forward in life with a little of John in our hearts, encouraging us to meet failure with excitement and to always stay curious.

Services for John will be held on February 29th, 2024 @ 4:30pm for a celebration of life @ the San Clemente Pier Beach, In Orange County, Ca, just south of the pier. If you have pictures or memories that you would like to share about John to be included in his service or shared with his friends and family please email them to:

johnmichelinmemories@gmail.com

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