Remembering John – A Timeline of Child and Adult Connections

 Remembering John – A Timeline of Child and Adult Connections 

As John’s little brother by nine years, there are many fond memories that are special to me. Bottom line he will always be on my mind as a loving brother who guided me early on with loving kindness. In the late 1940’s our family lived in Gainesville, GA. I was of first grade age and John, a teenager, was interested in model airplanes. John made a small hand launched glider for me. In hindsight, I think this was the unconscious starting point for my future career. 

 

In the early 1950’s, our family moved to Decatur, GA. John was a high schooler with side jobs at a gas station, popping corn for the local drive-in theater and he also worked as an usher at the Roxy theatre in downtown Atlanta. He found time to build a tree house for me in the back yard and shoot hoops on a back board that our Father had built. He taught me how to maintain my bicycle (think “coaster brake”). After high school, John went to Georgia Tech. During the same time frame, my sisters Ann and Joan also were away at college. IN 1955, my father, mother and I moved to Cleveland, TN where my latent interest in model airplanes surfaced (think “U-control”, a P-40 Warhawk, and a McCoy 29). Meanwhile, my sisters and John became adults. John got married, graduated from Ga Tech in mechanical engineering and took a job at North American in El Segundo, CA (1958?). 

 

John continued to be a role model for me. During my high school years, we lived in Alexandria, VA and contact with John and family was rare. Then we returned to Atlanta in 1961 and I entered Georgia Tech and started a major in aeronautical engineering. Upon graduation in 1967, Geri and I married, and we briefly considered a job in San Monica, CA (I don’t remember the name of the company). We ended up in Fort Worth, Texas at General Dynamics for a couple of years. After that our somewhat parallel paths began to diverge and we ended up in Chattanooga, TN for the balance of working and raising three kids. 

 

Fast forward to the early 1980’s. I reconnected with John during my frequent business trips to San Diego. I recall dirt biking in the desert with John and David. Quite a hoot! Also, went on an overnight boy scout hike in Anza-Borrego desert with John, David, and scouts. Another hoot! Later, there were brief encounters with John and Barbara after their retirement to the log house in Grass Valley (not clear on the time frame). Of “recent” significance was the celebration of the lives of our parents John Spring, Sr and Katherine by planting a tree (along with their ashes) at Deep Springs College near Bishop, CA. Long story here. This was after my mother passed in 2002 at age 95. Our father had passed in 1992. 

 

Geri and I connected with John and Barbara in Madera in November 2018. Brief but enjoyable visit including dinner at the local Mexican restaurant where John displayed his typical banter with the waitress. - Alan Spring