John ETHERTON

My gorgeous Johnny

Johnny, oh my Johnny, where have you gone? Just when we were set to enjoy retirement, taking advantage of every day in some little or big way, you were ripped from me. My life is empty without you, my heart is broken, and half of my self is gone. You were my friend, my lover, my advisor, my supporter and my slow-down-a-bit-girlie man. How will I ever make it through another Valentine's Day without your 8-course menu, because there are 8 letters in I LOVE YOU ? Anaïs misses you very much. Harley doesn't know where you are. Ducati sleeps in your chair, and even That Cat Roxy Meowsic jumps up on the table all the time and thumbs her nose at you! These past 23 years have been more than I could ever have hoped for. But I wanted 23 more!!

Merci John, tu as été un voisin très sympathique avec un grand cœur. Tu savais reconnaître la bonté des gens.
Tu passais souvent devant la maison pour promener les chiens, toujours un petit signe d’amitié pour moi en passant.
Merci pour ces bons moments passés ensemble avec toi et les amis du voisinage.
Tu étais un bon vivant, un bon ami.
Tu es parti trop vite…
Repose en paix.
Ton ami Jean-Pierre

Bonjour,
Je veux lever mon verre à la mémoire de John, un garçon formidable, toujours joyeux et souriant - il va beaucoup nous manquer - mais il restera dans nos mémoires - le temps efface les mauvais souvenirs mais jamais les moments joyeux partagés
Francois

Dear Jane and all the family,
Such sad news, Jill & I were so sorry to hear the news.

But John left such good things behind. Through his Tongham Tasters group (still going strong today) he introduced us to fun wine tastings and you Jane to super foods to match. We met you both at the village hall in a charity dinner and continued to meet monthly to try new wines and have fun evenings together. Before you both headed for life in France, you invited us to see how the wonderful Sancerre region looks in winter (see the picture below of our team out walking). Generous both with company, entertainment and a love of all things good.

We toast your great memories!
John & Jill

As a child, John was very much my fun uncle, and I particularly remember his model race track of which he gave me several cars and some track of my own one birthday or Christmas.

As a teenager, I came to appreciate John's (and by this time Jane's) love of food and hosting. I think exposure to some things we never had at home (olives, nuts) and the delicious food they put on was one of the things that really sparked my own interest in food and cooking which persists to this day.

More lately, it has been a pleasure to get to know John adult-to-adult and see a more "warts and all" version of him than one gets in a family context growing up. We shared an interest in music, in birds & nature, and in good food.

John was a beloved uncle, an influential character in my life, and will be deeply missed.

I have many memories of my brother in law of 30 years John, and most of them either involve laughter or food. The most recent memories were a lovely meal by the sea and then my last memory sitting in a bar after a family wedding eating chips with wine or lime soda.

John was always fun. When our children were young we spent many Christmas together and I’m not sure who enjoyed the toys most. John will be greatly missed by us all. Trina

Uncle John was special and we always enjoyed his visits. When we were younger we often spent Christmas with him. We still laugh when we hear the word “spam” as one time whilst playing balderdash he decided the definition to everything was variations of “spam”, it got to the point we all were crying with laughter. He would play with our toys and cause chaos with dad - seeing who could build the biggest tower. We will miss him, especially at family gatherings. Caitlin and Lolly

Souvenir d'un temps heureux et d'un couple harmonieux qui s'est aimé d'amour
John est parti mais il restera dans nos coeurs

Passionné, bon vivant, chaleureux et plein d'humour. Voilà qui pour nous sont les mots qui représentent John. Son entrain, son rire tonitruant, sa gentillesse, son attention aux autres nous manquent !