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R.I.P.-- John Winslow

0311DAD

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6
Location
Roxboro, nc
This is sad news. I bought my truck from John earlier this year, and in the process gained a friend. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family
 

stampy

Active member
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38
Location
Henderson. NC
OH No I never took the time to meet him or make the trip to Winslows.... Now I will never get the chance... Rest in Peace John, even though I never met you I always felt like I knew ya.
 

decodeme2

In Memorial
In Memorial
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Location
Lothian maryland
Was a BIG surprize to me, walked around dazed for awhile. Just talked to him about picking up his 5 tons the day before! Never got a chance to meet him in person, always was a pleasure moving his trucks, very professional, and basicly a really nice down to earth guy. Would send me parts and tell me to pay whenever. My driver ERIC sends his best to his dad and Pete which he knew and worked with. I hope im as lucky to go out like John when its my time.
Kevin & Eric...
 

CGarbee

Well-known member
2,473
562
113
Location
Raleigh, NC
I am also shocked...and I spent the weekend in a daze as well...

Way too young...

I first met John in '97 at the gun show in Raleigh (Charles Talbert at M-Series Rebuild had called to tell me that he was meeting John at the show and that I should ride over in my new M37 to show it to them...).

I can't tell you how many times I have visited his place, the number of hours spent just shooting the breeze with him, picking parts, wrenching on something...but I can tell you that I always planned on sending at least twice as much time there as I figured the trip needed to take because I knew that we would get "distracted"... I only wish that I had made the trip more often...

RIP John
 

popacom

Member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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18
Location
winchester,ky
I have been in this hobby many years......met many " good people"
and watched many of the greats " HOWARD HAMMONDS, JACK TOMLIN,
J. LITTLEFIELD......and many more pass.......But I must say none have
touched me quite like John..........a fine fellow and a brother...
I will miss you, but never, forget you......:beer:....popacom
 

popacom

Member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
winchester,ky
R.i.p

I have been in this hobby many years......met many " good people"
and watched many of the greats " HOWARD HAMMONDS, JACK TOMLIN,
J. LITTLEFIELD......and many more pass.......But I must say none have
touched me quite like John..........a fine fellow and a brother...
I will miss you, but never, forget you......:beer:....popacom
 

steelsoldiers

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
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Location
Charleston, WV
Man, this really sucks. I got all choked up in church yesterday thinking about John. I wanted to drive down for the graveside service, but couldn't make the trip. Thankfully, my brother, Chad, made the trip. He said it was a fitting tribute to a great man. The place was packed and preacher even spoke about the time he got to shoot Ma Deuce with John.

It's hard to say how many hours I spent at John's place scrounging for parts, working on trucks, shooting the bull, admiring all of the cool cars and tractors, talking about weight lifting, etc... John always tried to get me to lift weights with him and Pete, but I never got to do it. I was always working on a project and on a deadline. Those of you who met John and Pete, know that they take their weight lifting seriously. John was always in good shape and could really punish the iron. That's what really bothers me about this. He took good care of his body, didn't smoke and lived a pretty clean life. I do the same thing and for him to die so young of a heart attack has really shaken me.

I remember when I first moved to southeast Virginia, my buddy Bruce Kubu told me, "Dude, you're only about an hour away from one of the coolest surplus places on earth." I took advantage of that when I got my 923A2 project in '06 or '07. John was one of the only guys around with any 939-series parts trucks. I made lots of trips down there and it didn't take long to strike up a friendship.

Anyways, I'll stop rambling for now. I'm just heartsick and missing my friend.
 

Oldvw2

Member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
Wake Forest, NC USA
As Chris mentioned I drove over to Scotland Neck yesterday to pay my respects. I know that I am stunned and can only imagine the pain that his Wife, Father, Brother, Children and extended family are going through.

If it is any small consolation I think the preacher summed it up best when he said something to the effect that "he looked around and there sure are a lot of y'all here.....that must be because John sure meant a lot"

You sure did John - thanks for everything...Godspeed
 

BKubu

Well-known member
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Location
Gaithersburg, MD
Unfortunately, I was away on vacation and could not return for John's funeral. Chad, I am glad you got to make it. Blake Sheppard also went and even drove his M151A2! I thought about John a lot this weekend...reflecting on the hundreds of phone calls we had, the dozens and dozens of visits I made to his place. I could share many stories with the list, but one clearly defines who John was.

John and I were good friends and we had been doing business and talking about trucks for well over a decade. Anyway, I am not sure how or when it happened, but John basically told me that I could call him anytime from like 8 AM until midnight. We regularly talked late at night, although that slowed down in recent years. Anyway, my wife and I were driving through NC late one night and the water pump went out on my car. I called John at 12:15 AM and he answered as he always did (how many others would have let the answering machine pick up). Anyway, I told John what was wrong and I how I knew it was the water pump. He asked me if I was in a safe location and I told him I was. He asked if I wanted him to come down right then with his dually and his car trailer and I told him it could wait until the morning. John came to the rescue early the next morning. We got the car on the trailer and he drove us to a car rental place. Then, he took the car back and got a friend to fix it for me. I never forgot that. He was the type of guy who would do anything for a friend. In return, I wanted to help him in any way that I could. I often called him if I spotted surplus that might interest him. I offered to assist in his surplus retrievals. I spoke to him probably five days before his death. Pete, his son-in-law asked me on Friday (the actual day of John's death) if John called me on Thursday because, apparently, he told Pete he was going to call me. I never received the call, but, man, I wish I had because it would have been nice to hear from him one last time. I definitely will be going down to see Pete in the next month. I asked Pete if he would tell me how to get to the cemetary. I am very much looking foward to seeing John's place again and going to pay my respects to a man that I will miss.
 

73m819

Rock = older than dirt , GA. MAFIA , Dirty
Steel Soldiers Supporter
In Memorial
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Location
gainesville, ga.
How did MR. Winslow die, I had not even heard that he was ILL, with the STANDING of John Winslow in the MV world, We would have heard if he was having a problem, I really hated to hear the news.
 

BKubu

Well-known member
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Gaithersburg, MD
As far as I know, he was healthy. He worked out and ate right. He was 56 when he died, but if you met him, you'd swear he was no more than 50. My wife and I discussed this over the weekend after we heard about his passing. I thought he was 50 and my wife thought he looked younger, but Pete confirmed that he was 56. John passed away as a result of a heart attack.
 

tayronachan

New member
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Location
Scotland Neck, NC
@ BKuba, Thank you for posting that link.

It lightened my heart to read that John Winslow was survived by one brother, five children and five grandchildren. If John were to read this, I know he wouldn't let it go to his head when I say I consider his genes to be "high value" genes for this community and this country. We need a lot more like him.

God Bless,
Chan Moore
 
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