John Sheatz

I think John would appreciate me telling you a little about his past and his hometown. John was born in Parish, New York on April 29, 1961. Parish is a village located in the town of Parish, in Oswego County, New York. This village is part of the Syracuse metropolitan area. Its population was 447 as of the census of 2020. The town of Parish was first settled in 1803 and was named upon March 20, 1828, founding for David Parish, the town's earliest landowner of note. The village of Parish, in the heart of the township, has a long history of family-run businesses. He moved to Florida in 1997 with his lifelong partner, Tony, for better opportunities in life and a permanent place that he would call home.

He was a great son, a great caring and loving partner, a great co-worker, and a super, wicked, awesome, great friend! John and I became friends really quick, not sure if it was the common NY background, same sense of humor, same ideas, regardless, we hit it off and became good friends over the years. It was an honor and a pleasure to call John Sheatz my friend, and like a brother to me. He was one of the first “nice” people I met in the title business back when I was still green. He showed me the old back plant when I was stuck or in need of help when I first started out. He always made time for you, always enjoyed speaking with you and made you feel good about life. John was truly a happy and positive person and showed that daily, no matter how tough or what obstacles life was throwing at him. You wanted to see and talk to John so he could rub off some of that mojo onto you and make you feel good about yourself and/or your life situation.

For you, old school friends and co-workers, John lived about two or three blocks from FA when their office was located off Lee Road in Winter Park. John loved people and always made you feel warm and welcome at his house. He would throw parties, have the best food, good company, and at times, yes, occasionally things did get out of control, but not once did that stop John from having another get-together. He made you feel like you were part of his family, his friend group, he genuinely cared about you and gave you his advice if you asked for it, good advice too. He often threw Christmas parties for all his friends and family to attend- always the first Saturday of December. I always looked forward to them and as did many others. John and Tony used to buy a Christmas tree, decorate it very nicely, top of the line decorations and before, or as each person left their house from the Christmas party, he would take you over to the tree and tell you to pick out any ornament to take home with you. I still have to this day, ornaments with “John and Tony” labeled on the bottom of them with the year for each year I attended. Great and fond memories for sure! Then, the next day, they would donate their tree to a family in need, a family who couldn’t afford a Christmas tree, let alone the decorations. Another way John (and Tony) had a big heart and always tried to give a little back.

John had many great friends, great co-workers, and a great life! He will be missed dearly, but just like the “heart of the township” above in Parish, John’s big heart lives in all of us with many fond memories of him and all the great times we all shared with him along his journey of life.

John will be cremated and later this summer, Tony is placing him in his final resting place in Upstate New York, next to his father, his mother; Marilyn’s plot, and his lifelong partner; Tony Huster’s plot, to be rejoined later in their celebration of life. He leaves behind his mother Marilyn, lifelong partner Tony, sister Penny, brother Gary, and many nieces and nephews.