John was my best friends step father. Beyond that, he was also a mentor for both good and ill as my vocabulary will attest.  

He was an inspiration that yes there was so much bad in the world, much of which he felt with, but still found the need to instill in us the capacity to want to do good, be better and always keep learning. 

There are many times I still think about him. When I got married, I missed having him there and my wife getting to meet the man she’d heard so many stories about. He was our “Papa Titus” (Google it) He was fun and bucked authority while being the authority! From being yelled at for breathing on a dusty old Vette, to learning why he never got around to putting the Camaro back together, to always wanting to teach and impart wisdom on people. 

As I sit with my own classic toys to work on, I miss not having him around to dial up to ask a question and have him reply “you know the answer Verne” don’t think I’ll ever stop missing him