John Gavin Obituary

My father’s life can be best summed up in the first few verses of Psalm 1 , “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His laws he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yield its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”



As a child I was amazed at his strength, hanging on to his arm as he would pick me up and laugh. As I grew older, I knew it was more than strength, it was his wisdom. He had such a hunger and thirst for heavenly wisdom. He knew the more he searched the more he would find and the closer he would come to the Father. He put God first above all things. He never stored treasure hear on earth. Rather, he found joy in the smallest of things and shared this joy with the ones he loved. Dad’s faith was such that he needed only to pray and ask the Lord once. He knew that he would be answered, and that the answer would be according to God’s Will for his life and that was enough for him.



My father lead a righteous life, he gave his children a great example to live by. For this I am blessed and truly grateful. I’ll miss our mini-discussions that we would have on life and our faith. My father fought that good fight of faith and won. I know right know he’s bending God’s ear, finally getting the answers he so eagerly searched and prayed for. I’m gonna miss you dad. I know that you knew I loved you, but I don’t think I ever told you how proud I was to be your son. Your words of wisdom didn’t fall on deaf ears. I ’ll see you soon, be blessed.

Patsy and the Gavin Family,

What a shock to hear about Jack. All I could think about was how hard working man and a good father he was. You were very good neighbors while we were in Park Ridge.



My love and prayers to all of you at this most difficult time.



Laura, Kristin and Michael

MaryFrances and the Gavin Family,



I am very sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

As Jack's son-in-law (Anne), I often wondered, why is it guys named John like to be called 'Jack'? Then again, I rarely called him by his first name (either one for that matter). It was usually, "hey", "hi", or "how you doin'?"

It probably had something to do with the first time I met him. Sometime back in high school, when Anne and I were just friends, I came by the house to use the typewriter or give her a lift to school. Jack answered the door with that ever-so-serious look and those piercing blue eyes; I was greeted by, "Who are YOU?"

I stammered back, "Jason, Anne's friend."

From then on, he should have known better. Alas, he had no shotgun to scare me off, so here I am.

Through the years, I always knew to keep the language clean and the jokes cleaner when around Jack but on occasion, he would "tell it like it is."

Late this summer, when everyone but the Cubs knew their season was over and no on could stop talking about the White Sox, Jack (a life-long and die-hard Cubs fan until the end) summed it up quite well. He told me, "The White Sox suck, but you know what, the Cubs suck even more!"

That pretty well illustrated his feelings for the Cubbies of late. He was however thrilled as a Chicago baseball fanatic when the White Sox won it all.

Did anyone know that Jack liked to argue? If you knew him, you knew he did! I don't mean argue for arguments sake, but a good old-fashioned I'm going to change your mind if it kills ya' attitude.

We had more then our share of heated debates (usually started by Jack) of you name it, politics, religion, crime and punishment, welfare, unions... you know, the usual stuff that people exchange blows over. No fights, but he did get pretty animated and I'm sure I started a few of them just to spice up the evening.

Jack welcomed me into his home and family, giving away a daughter to a guy with long hair (when I had hair), tattoo and a motorcycle. While it goes to show that Jack had compassion for his fellow man, he was a lousy judge of character!



Seriously, Jack you will be missed. The thoughts, love and memories we shared with you make us grateful that God gave you to us; no matter what name we called you by.

John was one of the nicest men I had the pleasure to know at our church. He had the true heart of a Christian, always willing to help those in need. He showed up every week at church with a food bag to help the needy. He was also willing to serve when asked. Christ will definately say to John "Well done, my good and faithful servant".



He will be truly missed.I only wish I would have had more time to get to know him better.