Obituary of John Richard Macholl
It is with a profound sense of loss that we report the passing of John Macholl (87) from terminal kidney cancer. John was born to Louis and Clara Macholl and grew up in rural upstate New York as the youngest of eight children in a small three-bedroom home with one cow, a few chickens, and an outhouse. His father, mother, and brothers and sisters all instilled in him the values of hard work, loyalty, and family. John’s childhood home had an old and out-of-tune upright piano in the family living/dining-room. With an intrinsic talent for music, John taught himself to play the piano entirely by ear.
Teachers and guidance counselors at John’s High School recognized his special talents and collaborated to encourage him to be the first of his family to go to college. His High School administrators even arranged for John to earn his room and board by serving as a live-in “valet” to a well-off family. John graduated from the State University of New York in Albany with a degree in Business Education. It was there that he met Joan when mutual friends asked him to sit in as a fourth for a social game of bridge. Joan was the love of his life.
After college, John enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served for two years as Master Sergeant involved in peacekeeping duties in post-war South Korea (1956-1958). It was early in his service (during state-side basic training) that John proposed marriage to Joan via telephone. Those years were filled with the promise of a bright future.
John and Joan married in November of 1958. Their only child, daughter Eileen, was born in November of 1959. John earned his MS in Business Administration (also from SUNY Albany) in 1962. Both John and Joan had careers for over three decades teaching Business Education subjects to high school students.
John eventually was promoted to Chairperson of the Department at Lakeland High School and then to Principal at the district’s sister school, Walter Panas High School, for the last seven years of his career. He retired, together with Joan, in 1989.
As teachers, they purchased a piece of lakefront property in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1970 and spent 50 glorious summers there. Their best friends in life are native Nova Scotians and neighbors on the lake, bridge- and piano-playing buddies; the two families are joined together over generations in a larger extended family made by love.
John and Joan began playing competitive duplicate bridge together in 1977 (when their daughter went off to college) and also started playing golf together around that same time. They became Life Masters in the ACBL and served as official Directors of many duplicate games and tournaments.
After retirement, John and Joan moved (with Joan’s mother Winnifred Homan, 1909-2010) to Sun City Center in 1992 and to Freedom Plaza in 2017. They co-taught bridge on world-class cruise ships for over 15 years. They have travelled to six continents and countless countries, having had the blessing of literally seeing the world.
They served as volunteers for 20 or more years for the Sun City Center Security Patrol. In addition, John has been generous with the Duplicate Bridge Association of Sun City Center where he has served as a Game Director and President of the club, as well as in supporting Joan’s 20+ years of teaching bridge. He may be remembered by many as the guy who would play piano in the atrium at Freedom Plaza for his own delight and that of many residents.
John was smart, kind, funny, warm, inclusive, and emotionally intelligent. He lived a good life filled with music, gratitude, bridge, golf, and love.
John’s passing leaves many people grieving and remembering his profound impact on their lives. He is survived by his beloved wife of over 62 years, Joan Macholl as well as his daughter Eileen Macholl (Barbara Anderson-Greenfield), step-granddaughter Elizabeth Greenfield (Ann Petricca), and great grandson Michael Petricca Greenfield. The last to survive of his brothers and sisters, John leaves behind many dear nieces and nephews as well as a brother-in-law Richard Homan (Jan Homan) and niece (Ruth Homan) from Joan’s side. Joan and John also share family members by love: Gail and Al Moore, their children Allison Moore (Christopher Culligan) and Melissa Moore (Skylar Du Mesnil), and their grandchildren Aiden, Ben, and Sam Culligan and Isabella and Emmitt Du Mesnil.
Notes of condolence can be sent to Joan via email at Macholl@aol.com; in lieu of flowers and in John’s spirit of generosity and gratitude consider making an extra contribution of your talent or treasure to any charity of your choice – in this way his spirit can live on by helping serve the passions of all those for whom he cared.
