John Moore (LittleJohn)

[Speargirl]

John Moore passed away today at 2PM at St. Marys Hospital in West Palm Beach.

John was truley a remarkable man. I can remember the first time we met it was a SB weekend camping trip at Gennie Springs. I was trying to tie my tent porch to a limb that was way over my head, all of a sudden I hear this voice say can I help you, I turned around and my eyes just went straight up, I thought to myself this man is huge. With a big smile on his face he took the rope and fixed my tent, we have been friends ever since that day. Though I never got to fish with him we did get to dive when he would come to the Keys Everytime he would come to the Keys he would call me and say hey I am in for the weekend and we would hang out. The last time I saw John was in Sept when he had a fishing tournament in Islamorada with his other forum family Maverick forum I had the pleasure of meeting his extended family, I had a wonderful dinner on the beach and got to know Johns other life outside of scuba diving.
John may have been a big man but his heart was even bigger and he shared it with everyone he came in contact with.
We have truley lost a wonderful man and I will miss our LittleJohn.

May God bless him with calm waters and huge fish.

His brother will call me next week with when and where the Memorial Service will be held. They are trying for next Sat.

 

[alcina]

My deepest condolences to all of his friends and family.

 

[ohmdiver]

I am sure I am not the only one who has been following this story. I never knew, dived with, or meet Littlejohn. But after reading his friends post on SB, and the out pouring of well wishes he sounded like someone worth knowing. Please accept my condolences for your loss.

 

[Randy43068]

Thank you speargirl for that. Wishing his family and frends some peace in this.

Randy

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

John, may you have great vis and calm seas. I, too met you at Ginnie Springs and am so grateful for the deal on the tanks. They have served me well... and will be using one tomorrow. I wished we could of hung out more, but our paths didn't seem to cross as often as our plans intended to. It is my pleasure to have known you, and you made my life better. Peace.

 

[Splitlip]

Sad outcome.

Thoughts and prayers for him and his.

 

[mrfixitchapman]

First, this is incredibly bad news for our SB family. Second, SpearGirl, thank you for helping us stay current as the situation went from bad to worse and then worse yet. It can't be easy. I say thank you.


My perspective might be different than everybody else. I beg your indulgence while I explain. After you understand me you are free to agree, disgree or ignore. You decide.

I started diving in what, for many people, could be mistaken for a mid-life crisis. In fact, I have always wanted to be a scuba diver. I just could not get the money and time together until after my fortieth birthday was shrinking in my rear-view mirror. I belong in a scuba kit. I learned that I was always right about wanting to be a diver. It has become a big part of who I am, not just what I do.

Becoming a diver included learning that I have to be more responsible for the things that I do and that some bad decisions coupled with an average amount of bad luck could kill me and my dive partner. In one view, just getting back to the boat alive and in reasonably good shape could be regarded as a major accomplishment when conditions go bad.

I've been lucky to dive in many different locations in the US and abroad. Every dive adds to my memories of the places, the people, the conditions and the whole experience as it adds to who I am.

In June 2007 I got the phone call from my doctor that the lump he excised was, in fact, a malignant tumor. I went from being a worried, otherwise-normal middle-aged guy to being a cancer patient with his own oncologist and a "patient care team leader".

Needles, huge machines with magnificent electromagnets and radioactive IV's suddenly became the most important things in my life. I learned my way around surgical suites and pain management methods.

Every time I was on my back on a gurney staring up at the fluorescent light fixtures I went back to my pleasant memories giant-striding off the stern of a charter boat in The Keys, The Bahamas, Mexico, or any number of places that I have tripped off to to be more of a Diver.

Barracuda Reef, Thunderball Wreck, Tears of Allah, Monterey Bay, WAPA Gardens, Conch Wall, Cane Bay, I closed my eyes and dived them all again. Many times. Anything to be somewhere else than where I was at the time. I had too many chances to contemplate the end of me. And I always went diving instead of counting backwards from one hundred. The anesthesiologist can wait until I'm back on deck and I've spit out my regulator.

I've lost my share of friends in my 'real life' and here on the 'board. Not long ago BigJetDriver didn't come back. WildCard and PacketSniffer were two more 'buddies' that I hadn't gotten to dive with, but I knew them from my screen and keyboard and I cared about them.


Now LittleJohn is gone. I'm overcome with knowing how his end came to him. Doctors, nurses, machines that hiss and beep.

But I'm comforted by the knowledge that his last experiences and memories were the very ones that I would have chosen as conciousness fades. The very ones that I have actually chosen as conciousness fades.


I'll have to wait a while before I get to share a boat ride and buddy check with him.

One day, LittleJohn. Until then, peace.

DC

 

[K9Pig]

Many more thoughts and prayers to those friends and family so near and dear to him.
This is truely a sad day.

 

[scubanatic]

Today we have lost a dear friend and fellow diver. I was the one who received the first call from St Mary's Hospital in regards to John's condition and relayed the next of kin information to the hospital. From that moment of the first phone call to the one I received tonight, my thoughts and prayers have been with him and his family. I have known John just short of one year and in that time, I watched his passion for diving grow, from his first open water dives through his desire to become a master scuba diver to the spearfishing trips we hunted together. He will truly be missed by all. My condolences to his family and friends and to John all I can say is I hope to dive with you again some day in paradise.

 

[irishsquid]

I didn't have the honor to meet him, but my deepest sympathy to his family and friends.