| Graduation Year | Class of 1988 |
| Date of Passing | Jan 18, 2011 |
| About | Johndaniel Joseph "John" Sosebee of Reno, NV passed away on January 18, 2011, at his home in Reno. He was 40 years old. The son of John Kenneth "Kenny" and the late Connie Lynn (Sinnard) Sosebee, John was born August 13, 1970 in Fullerton, California. As the second child and only son of a U.S. Marine Master Gunny Sgt. and an artist/homemaker, John lived in Anaheim and Irvine, California; Quantico, Virginia; Havelock, North Carolina; Iwakuni and Okinawa, Japan all before the age of 9. In 1979, when John's father retired from the Marine Corps, the Sosebee family settled permanently in the mountain town of Truckee, California. John was a genuine Truckee boy. He loved the mountains, and enjoyed hiking with his dogs, camping, fishing, target shooting, rafting, and especially swimming in Donner Lake - the subject of so many of his mother's beautiful oil paintings. With his unique webbed toes, John was truly like a fish in the water! John was an extremely talented athlete, playing both baseball and football. John was a big, tough, strong man with a gentle heart, a pure soul, and a loving nature who would fight to the death to protect someone he loved (and nobody with a brain would want to tangle with him!). He was a spiritual man who worked hard, loved hard, and played hard. When John did something, he poured his heart and soul into it and made sure it was done right, or at least done to the extreme! He had a crazy sense of humor, and really enjoyed making people laugh. John attended Truckee High School until his senior year, when he graduated in 1988 from Sierra Continuation High School. After graduation, John moved to Reno, Nevada. John worked hard outdoors all his life, starting in construction and logging jobs at age 14. He was good with his hands, and could build or repair just about anything. John was a heavy equipment operator in the Reno-Sparks-Tahoe area for many years before attending college at Truckee Meadows Community College and the University of Nevada, Reno, with the goal of becoming an emergency nurse practitioner. John enjoyed helping others, and he was a brilliant man with a genuine photographic memory. College and the medical field in particular came easy for him - he had just under a 4.0 grade point average. John enjoyed politics, current events, reading, and history. He truly loved animals and children, and was the proud owner of five pampered felines who followed him around like puppy dogs! John never lost his love of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He spent many wonderful times with friends and family at Donner Lake and Lake Tahoe as well as Stampede, Boca, and Prosser Reservoirs. He also enjoyed spending time in Elko County, Nevada - especially in Mountain City, where his wife's family had a ranch. John had wonderful times learning to wrassle calves, earmark, vaccinate, and ride horses at family brandings. John was preceded in death by his mother, Connie Lynn. He is survived by his wife Darcy (Baker) Sosebee of Reno; daughter Colleen Lynn Fischer of Austin, Texas; daughter Emery Elizabeth Sosebee of Colorado Springs, Colorado; grandson Peter Fischer of Austin, Texas; father John Kenneth "Kenny" of Vacaville, California; sisters Jamie Dena Jones (Scott Perkins), Julie Dana Sosebee, and Jennifer Danielle Sosebee of Ogden, Utah; dear friend and mentor Robert "Bob" Reese of Reno, Nevada; nieces Ciara Lynn Sase, Madison Clayton, and Vyktoria Nicole Perkins of Ogden, Utah; niece Jocelynn (Frank) Lamb of Franklin, Idaho; nephews David Walter of Flagstaff, Arizona and Tyler John Sase of Ogden, Utah; uncle Greg (Michele) Sinnard of Victorville, California; uncle William Lewis "Billy" (Charlotte) Sosebee of Chamblee, Georgia; uncle James Harbin Sr. "Doodlebug" Sosebee of Augusta, Georgia; aunt Beverly Gail (Harry) Barton of Lawrenceville, Georgia; and numerous other cousins, friends, and family in Georgia, Texas, California, Arizona, Iraq/Afghanistan (U.S. Army), and Nevada. Services for John will be held Saturday, January 29 at 11:00 a.m., St. Luke's Lutheran Church, 3835 Lakeside Drive, Reno, Nevada. Interment at Mountain View Cemetery in Reno, next to John's father-in-law Michael W. "Mickey" Baker of Mountain City, Nevada, will be held directly after, followed by a lunch reception at St. Luke's in the gymnasium. In lieu of flowers, John's wife Darcy respectfully requests that people make charitable contributions of time, money, material items, or food to the Salvation Army Nevada Corps Community Center, 1931 Sutro Street, Reno, NV; or contributions of volunteer time to any alcohol recovery program in John Sosebee's name. Darcy also requests, as a tribute to John's legacy and the life that he lived, that everyone remember what he taught us: from now on, when you meet a person with sad, hollow eyes, no matter who they are or where they come from, do not judge them. You have not walked in their shoes, lived their losses, nor felt their pain. You have been blessed in ways you cannot understand. We are all precious children of God, and He loves each one of us, no one more or less deserving than the other. So love one another, and always remember to tell people every day how much they mean to you. Be grateful for what you have. Stop what you are doing and take the time to really listen when someone is talking to you. Remember that the only thing we take from this world when we leave is what we gave away, and our time to go might be tomorrow. But most of all, never forget: "There, but for the Grace of God, go I." Johnny touched many lives in his short time on this earth. He was so loved, and so special. We miss him more than words can ever express. Until the day we meet again on high: Godspeed, Johnny mine, with love forever from your family, your friends, and your Mariposa. Published in Reno Gazette-Journal on January 26, 2011 |
