John Alfred Weigel

1930 - 2020

John Alfred Weigel

On September 13, 2020, John "Johnny Yuma" Weigel crossed the finish line for the last time.

John was a proud and loving father, grandfather, and great grandfather. He was a successful businessman on the east coast as well as in Yuma, AZ. He was an avid golfer and a champion race car driver with a passion for adventure and living life fearlessly.

John was born on July 3, 1930 in New Jersey, where his father worked in the gas station industry. As a little boy, John was enamored with a red flying horse that soared over the gas station, and he told his family that one day he would have a gas station of his own. As John grew older, he managed a gas station where he tended cars while developing an aptitude for business. Soon after, he purchased his first gas station with his father.

On Sunday mornings during his weekly donut run, John would watch a man sell car washes for .25 cents, and this man would have a line of cars waiting to be serviced. John would talk with the owner of the self-serve car wash, learning the name of the equipment supplier and devising a plan to have his own automated car wash business. Once the business was up and running, it became more profitable than his gas station and the rest was history!

Although John dabbled in racing when he was younger, he found success after returning to racing full throttle in the late 90's and 2000's. He held many titles in the National Viper Club including 2003 and 2005 Viper National Champion — Super Modified and more than 10 other first place finishes. Racers less than half his age couldn't keep up with Johnny Yuma! Having filled his walls with plaques and trophies, John decided to park his race cars for good at age 86.

John was a proud veteran who served in the United States Marine Corps from 1951 to 1954. He served overseas in Korea as a mechanic, further establishing his early roots and life-long trajectory of working with and appreciating automobiles. John was also a very skilled golfer, playing with many notable people over the years — Sometimes a story of his would casually end with, "and that was the third time I played a round with Joe DiMaggio" as if it was business-as-usual. When he moved to Yuma, he continued his love of golf and enjoyed golfing with "the boys". John loved vacationing at the beach in Amagansett, NY every year with his family. He also loved spending time at his Las Vegas home, tinkering with his cars up until the last months of his life.

John is survived by his son Tim Weigel, daughters Nancy Weigel (Jay Palmer), Stacy Weigel, and Kim Bellamy (Joe) of New York, grandchildren Michael Stelmaszyk, Casey Cassone (Nicole Refino), Sarah Parrish (Neil), Julia Karkambasis (George), JeanMarie Cetra (Taylor Brown), Brendan Weigel, Alex Weigel, and Greg Weigel, and his beloved great-grandchildren Michael Cunningham, Nick and Jax Stelmaszyk, Hayes and Dalton Parrish, Winston Brown, and Kali Karkambasis. He is also survived by Connie DePaso Weigel and her two daughters Jackie McCauley (Brian) and Diane Pinals (David), and Connie's 5 grandchildren. He is also survived by and shared a very special relationship with Hannah and Sarah Turner of Yuma, AZ.

John was preceded in death by his parents, Dorothy and John, his first wife and mother of his children Anne Weigel, and two of his beloved children, (son) Johnny and (daughter) Dale.

A memorial will be held at Rockland Country Club, 380 Rte 9W, Sparkill, NY 10976 on Saturday, October 17th, at 11:00am.