John Robert Risler, named after is two paternal uncles, was born July 1, 1952 in Washington DC. He was the oldest of the four “J’s” ( John, Janet, Julie and James). He grew up in Potomac, Md and attended Winston Churchill high school along with Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock, VA. After graduating from high school, he joined the IBEW, local 26 and became a journeyman Electrician. He then moved to Washington State where he became a father to two wonderful children, Jason and Jackie. Along the way he ended up in Alaska working out of the IBEW hall local 1547, working on the pipeline for Alyeska and ultimately becoming a Master Electrician. In 1991 he built his own home from the ground up, outside of Fairbanks where he met his wife, Elizabeth. Never satisfied with just doing one thing, he went to California and became a certified diving instructor and also became a volunteer flight EMT for Alaska rescue services. He also learned to be a luthier and built beautiful guitars. He and Elizabeth traveled the US throughout his life and managed to visit all 50 states, having many adventures along the way. Living in 10 states through out his life, he made many friends and became a “friend of Bill W’s” which allowed him to be kindred friends to many. One of John’s favorite things to do was to help others and could always be counted on to lend a hand when needed. He and Elizabeth settled in Florida for a decade or two and had many adventures boating and golfing where John missed getting his Pro-card by one stroke in a rain-delayed round. From there, they went to Virginia and built a beautiful log home, which John finished after it was framed up. After a number of years, they made the decision to move to Texas to be near his daughter and closer to his son and spend time with his five beautiful grandchildren. Little did he know that in less than a year, his life would end to the horrible scourge of cancer. In the end he was surrounded and visited by his family and many of the wonderful friends he made through the years. There is now a big hole in his family’s life that will never be filled and he will be missed greatly by many. To us, his family, he was the most interesting man we ever new.

 

submitted by Janet Risler Casertano (72)