Dear Uncle John,

Without a doubt you were my favorite VACATION uncle.  Somehow, you
always seemed to pop up during vacation periods (either yours or mine),
and with your energy and zest for life, made the brief moments you were
with us (or we were with you) shine!

My first recollections of you are as a very, very tall man (I was a
very, very small boy at the time), playing with me in the back yard of
"Nana's house" on Woodruff Road.  I belive we climbed the small, rocky,
tree covered hill behind the house and had ourselves a real adventure
together.  I vaguely remember the stories you would tell us, the family
gathered on chairs or sitting on the grass in the evening twilight,
about the far off places of Argentina and Chile, where you lived and
worked.

Later on, as luck will have it, I was assigned to Chile, and Isabel and
I visited you on a number of occasions, both at your apartment at Los
Leones Street in Santiago, and later on at the ranch on Lago Rupanco
near Osorno.  There we sent a week, reveling in the naturalistic beauty
of the place.  I now know why you loved it so.

We were lucky to be able to have my oldest son Charles at your memorial
service in Hartford to represent us and to tell all present how much you
mean to us.  You will be surely missed (especially by me during vacation
periods).  But rest assured that our memory of you will remain forever
young and bright in the hearts of those who really loved you - as we
did.

Cornelio, Isabel, Cristel & Catherine de Kanter
Houston, Texas
May 20, 1999