Mr. John Hathaway

John Walter Hathaway was born on October 10, 1957 in South Bend, Indiana, and died in San Francisco on December 18, 2011 after an eight month battle with colon cancer. John moved around a lot as a child, from Indiana to Wisconsin, Iowa, and finally Omaha, Nebraska, where he attended Westside High School. He attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, receiving his bachelors in sociology in 1980. After College, John lived briefly in Boulder, Colorado before moving in 1983 to San Francisco, which has been his home ever since. He worked as a bicycle messenger during his early years in San Francisco. In 1985 John received an MS in Professional Accounting, and worked as an auditor and accountant at a variety of firms, including Coopers & Lybrand, California Energy Company, and Bank of America. In 1993 John met Jackie Tonge, a fellow swimmer, and they were married in September of 1997. Around 1996 John decided to take his life in a different direction, studied brewing, and became the head brewer at Steelhead Brew Pub at Fisherman's Wharf, and then at other local brew pubs. He was pursuing opening his own bar or brew pub when he was diagnosed with colon cancer. John's great passion has been open water swimming, and he has been swimming with his many friends at the South End Rowing Club at Fisherman's Wharf and Bay Masters at Mission Bay for many years. He has done around 100 Alcatraz to San Francisco swims, many relay swims of Lake Tahoe, and in 2009 was a member of a successful English Channel relay team. John enjoyed life immensely and always approached it playfully. He was immediately friends with almost everyone he met. He enjoyed reading, photography, and astronomy. He loved living downtown and riding his bike swimming every morning to both the bay and the pool, never wearing a jacket and always wearing flipflops, even in the coldest weather. John's father, Walter Hathaway of Beaumont, Texas, died in 2001. He is survived by his wife Jacqueline Tonge and his cat Androcles of San Francisco, his mother, Sylvia Ball, step father Dale Ball, sister, Janet Hathaway, and brother-in-law Tim Hooton of Albuquerque, New Mexico, his brother David Hathaway and sister-in-law Carolyn Greene of Underhill Center, Vermont, his step mother Sandra Hathaway of Beaumont, Texas, his mother in law Eiko Tonge of Walnut Creek, his brother and sister in law James and Sarah Tonge and their children Jaime and Andy of Alamo, his brother in law Arthur Tonge and his family of Thailand, and countless friends in the San Francisco area. A memorial service celebrating John's life will be held sometime in March or April, 2012. Details will be posted here when available.