John Melchinger

After a long and hard fought battle, John moved on to his next assignment on March 12, 2015. Raised in a life insurance family in northern NJ racing sailboats on Barnegat Bay, talking topics at the dinner table with his father well beyond his years and playing his heart out on bass guitar with the Fender Benders; left NYU to do Smallpox eradication in West Africa; US Military Intelligence Chinese Mandarin Translator/Interpreter/Interrogator, 8 years active. Since 1978— John sold life insurance and estate planning services; Pioneered the concept of Target Marketing in financial services; was director of field training and manpower development at two large mutual life insurance companies; wrote the LIMRA life insurance training course; created an award-winning interactive business insurance sales training course; consulted with several large mutual insurance companies on relationship marketing, selling, training; became an internationally known speaker (International Forum and MDRT); authored four books including Due Care in Life Insurance; taught CE ethics to CFPs before they developed their course; 1993-2012 wrote the marketing column for Broker World magazine; Big Brother, President of Glen Ridge NJ Kiwanis Club, Neighborhood Watch Block Captain in Tampa; FL Mobile Notary to other disabled veterans and shut-ins in local hospitals and Wedding Minister all while managing multiple chronic health conditions. His greatest joy in the last 8 years was to lead A Perfect Witness - to write and deliver that special wedding ceremony for the couple that would fit no other! He loved his cats and his Cadillacs and tolerated the dogs. He looked forward to the Annual Tampa Turkey Trot visit from the Babes from Western Canada at Thanksgiving. He is survived by his wife Jayne Alford of 17 years, life-long compadres Bob Hoffman (Sally) and Col. Bryan (Irish) Egan, ret. (Sally), and numerous in-laws clients and friends across the continents ( Argentina, South Africa, Canada and the US). Cremation. John’s Party will take place at the family home followed by Private Interment at Bushnell National Cemetery with Military Honors. NEVER LIE ~ NEVER QUIT ~ THINK THROUGH ~TAKE ACTION! Don't let problems doing one keep you from doing the others. John always gave much more than he took, spoke up politically, and left an indelible mark on the lives of so many both personally and professionally. He will be sorely missed –there was only one JHM! A heartfelt thanks to Dr Steve Scott, the Therapists and Nursing care at the Polytrauma Unit of the James A. Haley VA, and Dr. Nam Tran with his amazing staff at Moffitt Cancer Center. These individuals never stopped ‘swinging for the fences’! In lieu of flowers, donations to the Wounded Warriors Project would be greatly appreciated. See link. https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/default.aspx?tsid=676&campaignSource=ONLINE&source=BS15026P