Chase Alumni Association

 

Please send remembrances to news@chasealum.org

 

From Phil Sorace: I knew and worked along side  John when I led Mid-Career and College Recruitment, Training and Placement for the International Department. We were friends and socialized being founding members of the “Chaser Mafia”, a loose gaggle of young Chase officers residing along what was then the Erie-Lackawanna Bergen/Main lines through Northern New Jersey. We gathered on weekends to play basketball and touch football at local high schools in Fairlawn, Glen Rock and Ridgewood.         John was an analytical banker with a flair for strategic thinking who also possessed a wicked sense of humor. One folly I feel comfortable in revealing now occurred shortly after Bill Ogden was promoted to EVP sharing management responsibilities for Chase International with Bill Butcher. There wasn’t any room on the 17th floor to accommodate an office befitting his rank, so one was built on our floor below on the southeast corner of ICMP.  A row of lesser offices, leading to Bill's, were occupied by me, Jerry Sullivan, John, George Knowles and Frank Shea, roughly in that order. Ogden tended to leave the office between 5 and 6 pm whenever he could, when not traveling or otherwise engaged with meetings. We commuted  on the same route and often left for our homes, more often than not, between 6 and 7 pm or later. Usually we – Frank, John and I – would wait for the last one to finish up before heading out to the PATH to Hoboken Terminal and home. How it got started, whose idea it was, I can’t recall. All I know it wasn’t mine, but one evening John stood at my door with a Frisbiee in hand. It was then a contest was born to find he who could fling the plastic disc reliably from the doorway of my office down the hall, through the double open doorway to Ogden’s office and land it neatly on his desk. The “winner”, so to speak, would have the dubious honor to attempt the perfect landing on a day when Bill was comfortably ensconced at his desk. Practice went on for weeks curiously without identifying a clear standout who could qualify for the mission. It should be noted that Bill Ogden did not suffer fools or rambunctious junior officers kindly. 
     John faced professional and personal adversity and choices with conviction and courage. His career accomplishments speak well of his professionalism and dedication to excellence. His passion, apart from his children and family, was breeding and showing Havanese dogs. We lost contact for a long while, but reconnected a few years ago through the Internet. I regret we were not able to meet, I would have liked to tell him how very glad I am to have known him.

 

From Yoram Kinberg: I met John on my first visit to Japan in 1975. He was one of the team leaders together with the late John Ward and Cyrus Hui working for Bill Flanz.

     We reconnected when we both worked in London around 1980. And stayed in touch till he left Chase. We reconnected again via Facebook a  few years ago, but hadn't managed to meet.

      I found John to be smart and very thoughtful. and always enjoyed our discussions.

 

From Beth Levinsky: I had not been in touch with John after he left Chase to form his own trajectory.   However, his time with the 1 Chase Plaza-NY International Asia Pacific area in 1978-79 left an indelible mark on many of us who worked for him. I was still a 'newbie' and a 'punk rock' fan and found John's attitude remarkably refreshing. I don't recall seeing it but he was known to have said, "I don't give a  f*** what XXX wants"...  I loved that.  

     He was very kind to us younger folks and had an annual outing at his home in or near Suffern on a lake which was beautiful. I have a photo (wish I could locate) of my spouse, Jeff, and me sitting outside his house in between the speakers... with the volume up loud. I know he and Carol enjoyed a lot of the same music we did at that time, which was unheard of: Bankers didn't listen to the Clash!

     RIP John.