John F. Ratterree

Loving Husband, father, grandfather died in his sleep Aug 23, 2022. He is the son of Eric E. Ratterree and Josephine M. La Piana. John was born in South Carolina on a Military base; both his parents were veterans of WWII. His family moved west to California where he and his sister Niki (Olivia) were raised in Castro Valley. John grew up with the Dufresne family and their sons, Pete and Vince; together they learned about building houses, electrical, plumbing, etc. and how to have fun during their time off.

He graduated from Laney College, drafted into the Army, injured during advance training and received a medical discharge. He worked his way through college in catering, construction, machine shop work, and later as an aircraft mechanic while attending San Jose State.  John studied Engineering and Aeronautics. He was hired by General Electric when he graduated from San Jose State. With GE, John worked in their nuclear division and was very cognizant of his lifetime radiation exposure. After this job he refused to get annual dental x-rays, he would only get them every 3-4 yrs. John always referred to GE as Generous Electric, as he received a hefty severance package from them. This allowed him to go to Stanislaus State and study Marine Biology and Parasitology.  John spent a few years out on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, as an engineer; this afforded him the luxury of diving and doing underwater photography during his time off.  John then went into the power generation & co-generation business where he spent many years as a sales engineer, project manager, and traveled extensively throughout the world.

John had many hobbies over the years: boating & waterskiing on the delta, motorcycle racing, car racing, cooking, gardening, traveling. But the hobbies he loved most were scuba diving, underwater photography & videography. He devoted many years building camera and video housings so he and others could enjoy the underwater world in all its vibrant colors. John authored A Diving and Snorkeling Guide to The Red Sea and co-authored Shooting Underwater Video.

In his later years John got into Garden Railroad building and spent hours searching for deals on eBay, and then fixing that same equipment and building his home railroad.

John will be missed by his wife Esther, daughter Mya, granddaughter Amy, and many family and friends. John was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Olivia (Nicki) and her spouse Bill Hopkins, and some very dear friends.

Memorial Services will be held Friday, October 14, 2022, at 11:00am at the Pittsburg Funeral Chapel, 2295 Railroad Ave, Pittsburg, CA.