John Charles Foy, 63, passed away unexpectedly after a very brief illness on Dec 29, 2017. He was a beloved member of every community he joined. Born in Los Angeles, but raised the small town of Fillmore, CA, he touched the hearts of every person he came in contact with, whether it was a child at a local elementary school or the cashier at his favorite hardware store.
In his short 63 years he managed to do more than your average man. He was a career firefighter, retired from Ventura County Fire Department after 24 years, and was a 19-year veteran of Fillmore Fire Department prior to that. His love for helping others didn’t start or stop with firefighting. His nickname, Clownie, came from the many years he was “Spanner the Clown” and provided Life and Fire Safety (LAFS) assemblies to local elementary schools throughout Ventura County. He was everyone’s favorite enemy at local high school sporting events, as he would don the striped shirt for Gold Coast Officials to referee football, basketball, and baseball. In his early adult years he was a Boy Scoutmaster for Fillmore Troop 406. Since the early 90’s he was the president of the Sespe Players, Fillmore’s community theatre group, building sets and acting with best of them. One Christmas his son purchased him a single flight lesson and that sparked his love for flying, where he eventually became a member of the Civil Air Patrol, Squadron 61. After retirement he moved to Mammoth Lakes, CA and became a Mammoth Mt Ski Resort “Host,” with his bright yellow jacket making sure everyone was safe and having a great time. His love for everything outdoors was shared with his amazing wife, Janet, and his children, Jason and Jodie. They spent numerous family vacations water skiing, snow skiing, SCUBA diving and hiking the backcountry. If it was an outdoor activity, they tried it.
Jack-of-all-trades, master of ALL, John was able to fix anything. He restored a 1965 Mustang, helped restore a 1926 America La France fire engine for Fillmore City Fire Department. Built 2 homes with his bare hands, including his current residence in Mammoth Lakes. He was well know for not completing the little things, and always had Janet at his side completing the finishing touches and picking up his mess along the way.
John will be remembered for his contagious smile, corny “dad” jokes, and his love for his friends and family. He was survived by his wife Janet (43 years) his son Jason and wife Carrie, daughter Jodie and husband Patrick, his beautiful grandkids, Makayla, Sophie, Milani, Jaron, and Diego, and his brother Harold and wife Frances. He was also survived by an amazing extended family full of sister and brother-in-laws, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. Proceeded in death by his amazing parents Harold and Jeanette Foy, also of Fillmore.
Celebration of Life, with stories and laughter, will take place at Fillmore Veteran’s Memorial Building, 511 2nd St., Fillmore, CA 93015, on Jan 20th at 2 pm. Please wear your favorite piece of clothing that represents your connection with John.
We would like contributions in John's name made to Disabled Sports of the Eastern Sierra, Wounded Warriors National Center of Mammoth Lakes: http://www.woundedwarriorsmammoth.org/
Thank you all for your love and prayers of support
Go explore the heavens, our friend…. Although, if God has a “to-do” list you probably have that in hand and are loading up your tool box to get it done, or at least get it started.
For map and directions to ceremony locations and to sign the family's online guestbook, share stories and post pictures please visit our website: www.santapaulafuneralhome.com and click on John's name located below "Recent Obituaries".
Funeral Arrangements are under the direction of the Family Owned and Operated ROBERT REY GARCIA JR FUNERAL SERVICES, Santa Paula, CA 93060. 805.229.7054