John William Tomaszewski

John William Tomaszewski of Andover, MA, died on September 27, 2016, after five months of treatment for cancer. He was 55. Tended closely in his last months by his wife, Melanie S. Smith; his daughter, Haley; his sister, Doreen May; and her husband, Ralph, John embodied the courage and grace that his loved ones so deeply appreciated. Born in 1961 in Shelbyville, Indiana, John was a 1979 graduate of Linton High School in Schenectady, New York. Though he would later go on to earn a PhD, John distinguished himself not only as an academic, but also as a contemplative and endlessly curious person with diverse gifts and interests. After performing in local theater in his middle and high school years, he attended Union College, studied dance at the University of Utah, and toured internationally as singer and dancer with the Landers' Sisters show. He received a BA in biochemistry in 1991 at California State University-Long Beach while apprenticing as a pastry chef, and followed that with a masters (1992) and a doctorate (1994) in organic chemistry at the University of Washington, Seattle. He earned his degrees having married and begun a family. John then joined the staff at Indiana University (2000), followed by a brief stint at a California winery (2008), before landing a job as a service engineer for JEOL–USA, installing and maintaining nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers throughout the world. John loved the natural world; he was an avid hiker, gardener, and wildlife photographer, with a truly astonishing collection of photographs of birds, butterflies, and frogs of which he was particularly fond. John was raised in a large and close-knit family. Son of the late Carl and Ethel Tomaszewski, he leaves behind his wife, Melanie; his beloved children, Tyler (23) and Haley (18), and their mother, Grace Nakatsukasa; siblings, Doreen May, Ruth Tomaszewski, Paul Tomaszewski, Ann Felt, Peter Tomaszewski, Mark Tomaszewski, and Jim Tomaszewski; and many friends who remember him for his intelligence, humor, and good will. John was an inspiration to his oncology team at the Mass General Hospital. Accordingly, in the hope that he might advance the science behind cancer treatment, John generously made an anatomical gift to the Harvard Medical School, where many of his treating doctors were educated. Memorial services will be held in private. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Gastric Cancer Foundation.