John Lawrence Testa

With those traits, it’s not hard to imagine that anybody who met him, liked him and anyone who knew him well loved him.

Born on March 12, 1939, to parents John and Kay (Catherine Bostian.) He grew up in Buffalo, NY with his brother Jim. Because John had the same name as his father, all of his close family and extended relatives called him, “Sonny.”

His older brother Jim was very athletic and protective of his younger brother and laughed at all of his jokes. His mother, Kay, was a homemaker and showed her love by having food available 24 hours a day so, John had to worry about weight gain when he was young. During his childhood, he was a tennis player and a table tennis champion. John played in many city tournaments and his only complaint was that when he finished as a runner-up, the winner got a trophy, but in the years he started winning championships, they decided to give out medals, like the Olympics. He really wanted the trophy. John was also a straight-A student and loved the fact that he rarely had to crack a book open to get those grades.

His father John Sr, had a good sense of humor but had a horrible childhood. During the depression, his father, Joseph, sent his mother back to Italy and put him and his siblings in an orphanage. Unfortunately for Sonny, his father’s difficult childhood meant that he could be very negative and cutting at times. So, after two generations of negativity, there was a chance that John could’ve been the same way. But, he stopped that behavior in its tracks by reading many self-help books during the 60s and 70s to make himself into the wonderful person he became. One would describe John as a bigger person who tried not to let little things bother him. Except perhaps during home maintenance chores when losing a battle against an inanimate object where he may hurl a verbal assault or two… “You dirty rotten, son-of-a-bi%$#ing sink!” In all the years of driving around town or on vacations, we only saw him “gesture” to another driver once! That has to be a record for a New Yorker.

While in college at the University of Buffalo, John had a job as a short-order cook. He didn’t talk about the job much, but it is well known that he made the best fried eggs sandwiches east of the Mississippi. John also perfected fried bologna sandwiches, cheese omelets, and many other meals that could be prepared in a skillet. And who could forget his mastery of the Mickey Mouse® pancakes on Sunday morning.

After college, he went to New York City to work for Capitol Airlines. At first, he worked in ticketing. There he met Jayne Dombeck from Wampum, PA. They were able to go to Times Square for New Year's Eve and watch the ball drop from 1959 to 1960.

Less than a year later they were married and shortly after that had the first of four children, Tim. When Capitol airlines were bought out by United Air Lines, new opportunities presented themselves which also meant moving to a new city and…another child. Tim was born in Ohio. A job move to Minnesota brought Julie three years later. A move to Chicago added Amy to the family four years later. Then five years later in Denver, Dan was born.

While working for United Airlines in Chicago, he took an aptitude test to be a member of their newly formed computer department in Denver. He received the top score and was one of the lead architects who designed the Apollo system for UAL reservations, at one time the most extensive computer system in the world. He worked for United and their spinoff Covia/Galileo for over 30 years before retiring and consulting in the same field.

At some point in Denver, he had gained some weight and won a weight loss competition at work. This unleashed years of exercise and weight watching. After a few weight fluctuations he eventually was able to tap into his unbelievable willpower and get himself into the shape he wanted… a stick. How he did this while not liking vegetables, no one knows.

For John, he could never give you too many Christmas presents. Even when money was tight he found a way to shower his kids and then grandkids with presents or Christmas cash. He was extremely generous and has come to the financial rescue many times.

He was a very smart man with flawless logic, so if you were going to debate him on a subject, you better be ready.

Somewhere in the 70’s he started playing in a football pool at work. He got other family members to play and soon we had yearly family football pools almost every year for 40 years. Many of these were before spreadsheet software or the internet.

He also did a lot of genealogical research with the help of other family members. He loved to run around cemeteries in New York and look for old relatives that were buried there. We even went on a trip to Salt Lake City for genealogy. He was informed that he was a direct descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of the Mayflower. Other branches include President John Adams and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. If there were lunatics in other branches of the family tree, he didn’t talk about them.

John’s kids moved out and started their lives and he became a grandpa, “Duke” named after his grandfather on his mother’s side. He babysat many times when his grandkids were very little and even had his birthday get-together at a Chuck E. Cheese, so the grandkids would have fun.

Soon, he was lucky in love once again, he met and married Eva Spain and they set off on a series of adventures and added another group of nice people to his family.

When dad was living alone, he often joked that his entire world was the boundaries between Broadway, Belleview, Dry Creek Road, and I-25. If you wanted to meet him for dinner, he would meet you if you were in that four-square-mile rectangle.

But, that all changed when Eva came around. He was driving to parts of town that he hadn’t been to in years. His friend base grew and they took many trips together. They even went yearly to the Telluride Film Festival annually and introduced his kids and other friends to the event. They taught classes together at the Denver Free University. They were always busy. Eva’s pet name for him was “Johnny T.”

So, whether he was called, John, Dad, Sonny, Duke or Johnny T, he was a person that you could count on. He was an honest, ethical, kind, generous, funny, intelligent, caring, empathetic, and good man.

We hope you were lucky enough to meet him and like him but we couldn’t help but love him.

He will be missed greatly by; Eva, her children Laura Seitz and Theresa Coleman, husband Tom and granddaughter Emilee also, his children & spouses (grandchildren); Tim (Grant/Junai), Julie & Gene Jewell (Andrea/Parker), Amy & John Foley (Ryan/Connor), and Dan & Nicole (Eli/Chris).

A service to celebrate his life will be held Monday, February 13, 2023, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary & Cemetery, 6601 South Colorado Blvd, Centennial, CO 80121, followed by a reception from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM.

Please add any fond memories and expressions of sympathy below.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the charity of your choice in John's memory.