Yesterday, April 1, 2006, our friend and teacher, John Hemkes passed away. He'd been fighting the effects of several strokes, and more recently, lung cancer. They claimed, at Racine's Lincoln Luther Home, that Johnny was the most visited patient in the bulding. That he was so cared for came as no suprise to me. Johnny affected very many of us in myriad positive ways. Sure, he was a great brass teacher, but, more than that, he was a life mentor, friend, and solid golf partner.
I had the honor of playing golf with he and my dad many times in the past 25 years. Although his game was steadily going downhill, he remained good company.
Last year, we were playing at Ives Grove, and were kind of holding up the group behind us, all young, athletic, big burly guys. They "suggested" to us that we move it along, and Johnny got pretty steaming mad. He goaded them from the tee, and invited them to come on over and tangle, if necessary. I gingerly walked over to the group, and apologized for our slow play, and asked that they cut my two 80+ year old companions and me a little slack. After the round, while we were having a beer, the gentlemen came over and shook Johnny's hand, telling him that they admired his guts for standing up to them.
I will miss my friend.
