October 2014 Monthly Letter

Dear Reconciler Family,

This letter is dedicated to John Joseph Connors, who died on September 10, 2014 after a 4-month bout with pancreatic cancer. He and family lived in Boston, Massachusetts.

He was of one of the Ministry of Reconciliation’s staunchest supporters since its inception some 18 years ago. John also served on the ORM Advisory Council and as an elder in the Grace Communion International Fellowship. He was a good friend of my family and me for about 25 years.

He was also a mentor, teaching me principles of business administration to employ in the Ministry. He attended some of our Chapter Leaders’ Conferences and taught me and the ORM Team some principles of leadership. Because he saw quickly that this was a calling from Jesus, he also saw the need to keep pushing full speed ahead until all people around him were reconciled.

It was amazing to find out the number of lives he impacted as some shared the lessons they learned from John with me. There were 240 attendees at his memorial service held on Friday, September 19th! This was remarkable since it was a week day!

Having been president and CEO of a number of companies, including Merisel Computer Company, Iron Mountain, he was highly equipped to give great advice. He was a visionary who could map out the path to success.

Here are some comments made at his memorial service:
“John was a man who loved to use the white board. He seemed to always have new ideas on how something could be improved.” He went on to say that John was probably up in heaven with a white board tweaking how things could be done better.

His son, Johnny talked for about 20 minutes on the many lessons his dad taught him. One was “stay in school.” He also shared some light-hearted stories about their relationship.

This poem on the program sums up his memorial service:

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awake in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circling flight
I am the soft star-shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

He will be truly missed!

Blessings,