John Thomann
For anyone who knew John Thomann, we would all agree that he was taken from all of us far too soon. His battle with melanoma was valiant and served as an inspiration. There are many adjectives that can be used to describe him.
- COMMITTED, no one worked harder than John from his high school job pumping gas to his last days at Turner. Coming to work every day, regardless of the effort that it took. He understood that people were counting on him and he refused to let them down.
- INTERESTED, John took a genuine interest in everyone that he met and anything that might be their passion. John would ask countless questions trying to understand the person through their interests.
- PASSIONATE, John had many interests of his own and he was passionate about them. He enjoyed muscle cars, in particular, his ‘66 GTO. He enjoyed Long Island, Mattituck, boating and fishing were also among John’s interests. He loved and respected the military, in particular, vintage military aircraft. He shared his enthusiasm with others, encouraging many to join in. Many Turner staffers spent Memorial Day sitting on a cold and wet Jones Beach to watch the annual airshow that John loved so much.
- OPTIMISTIC, The Mets, the Jets, the Islanders…nothing else needs to be said.
Most of all John Thomann LOVED. He loved his family. Kathleen, Jacqueline and James were undoubtedly the center of his world. His brothers and sisters and other family members were all in John’s world as well. He cherished his 30 year friendships with his classmates from Maria Regina HS. He loved the NY construction industry, his colleagues at Turner, especially “the boys and girls of Turner Interiors” as he would often say. He loved the owners, especially the difficult ones, the architects and designers, the subcontractors, and vendors, but most of all John loved the challenges that we all face every day.
The son of an NYPD ESU Sargeant with 37 years on the job and the brother of an FDNY firefighter assigned to Vinegar Hill Ladder 23 in Manhattan, John highly regarded and admired the dedication and bravery of our first responders especially the NYPD and FDNY. He faithfully made time from his busy schedule each and every year to remember 9/11. John always asked what he could do for the Maverick Foundation and was one of our strongest supporters behind the scenes…just the way he liked it.