John David Portner

When John David Portner was a teenager in Ramsey, NJ, he spent many cherished weekends and vacations with his family at a cabin along a rambling fishing stream in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. It was there that his father taught John to fly fish and, along the way, to find joy in the beauty of nature.

At Ramsey High School, where he graduated in 1967, John was a solid student and a good athlete - winning the New Jersey state high school wrestling championship in his weight class. The next year he was admitted to Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY and eventually graduated.

Yet, John was a teen of the '60s and the free-spirited adventure and social rebellion it promised. After a few semesters he decided to leave college and head west. In 1972 he visited San Francisco, fell in love with the city and decided to make it his home. He found a job driving a taxi for the San Francisco Mass Transit Authority and moved into a small apartment. He found he enjoyed the job and the constant variety of the passengers passing through his cab. The pay was good and in his off-times he began learning to play the guitar, write some music and explore his interest in art. A job that once looked somewhat temporary became a 40-year career.

On vacations, John took trips north into California wine country and was drawn back to the love of nature planted inside him by those long-ago trips to the fishing cabin in the Catskill Mountains. Then in 2012, as retirement approached, he discovered Clear Lake and purchased a home there. He loved the town and the surrounding mountains as well as his many friends in the community. He would live there for the next 13 years, until his death from metastatic skin cancer on Aug, 19, 2025 at a treatment center in Sacramento.

John loved living in Clear Lake, taking part in community activities and civic committees and serving as a substitute teacher in local schools.

Inspired by the beauty of Lake County, he created hundreds of landscape paintings. He also wrote many songs and played music with fellow musicians. In 2023 he recorded a CD of original songs for friends and family, on which he played guitar and sang.

John was born in Aurora, Illinois, in 1949, the third of five children of Robert E. Portner and Marjorie (Stolp) Portner. When he was in elementary school, the family moved to Iowa then in 1963 to Ramsey.

John is survived by three siblings: Christifer F. Portner (Patricia), Allentown, PA; Mary C. Hobbs, Franklin, IN; and Nancy E. Budai (Doug),Grosse Pointe, MI; along with eight nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a first-born brother, Robert E. Portner, Jr., who died at the age of three.

John was cremated, as per his wishes, and will be laid to rest in a private family burial in Aurora, Illinois at a later time.