John Michael Yarmy

1970 - 2021

John Michael Yarmy

Carlsbad - John Yarmy, of Carlsbad, CA, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, July 3, 2021, at the age of 51. He was surrounded by his friends on a golf course in Las Vegas doing what he loved most when he left us.

John was born on January 29, 1970, in the Bronx, NY and raised in New Rochelle, NY. He attended Davis Elementary School and Albert Leonard Junior High School. He briefly attended the Avon Old Farms school in Avon, CT and graduated from the Rye Country Day School in Rye, NY in 1988. He originally attended SUNY Cortland where he played ice hockey and then transferred to Iona College in New Rochelle where he continued his career in ice hockey until he graduated in 1992. John was an outstanding goalie and collected many awards throughout his career in hockey, including a New York State Championship with the Long Island Gulls and a National Championship in Hockey North America with the New York Mustangs. He had nicknames like the "Eraser", "Mr. Zero" and "The Stopper" given to him for his consistent excellence and reliability. John's favorite hockey team was the New York Rangers, and his favorite Ranger was goaltender Eddie Mio, who wore number 41. John always tried to wear jersey #41 for any team on which he played.

John is predeceased by his parents, Richard A. Yarmy and Joan T. Wolfe Yarmy and stepfather Jerry Sullivan. He is survived by his brother, Rick Yarmy, of Ridgefield, CT, his sister-in-law, Annie Howden Yarmy, of White Plains, NY, his niece Emmy Yarmy of New York City, his aunt and uncle, Susan Wolfe and Richard T. Wolfe, of Milford, CT, as well as numerous cousins across the country. Additionally, he is survived by his former wife, Mary Ashton Roberts Yarmy, of New York City, his Godmother, Terry Reilly of Murrells Inlet, SC, and his beloved cat, Budinski, who will miss him dearly.

After a progressive career in sales, John was the Chief Executive Officer of a company he helped launch, Rigel Payments based in Bonsall, CA. He will be greatly missed by his business partners and beloved close friends, Alexis Lichterman, the CSO, and Javier Fernandez, the CFO. John considered his partners to be family and was especially fond of Alexis' daughter, Simone Starr Lichterman, aka Sweet Pea, who he loved and adored as a surrogate uncle, as well as Javier's children, Ronaldo and Natalie Fernandez.

John was a unique person and had many distinctive and lovable personality traits which made him quite a character. His love of pizza and chicken parmigiana may be unrivaled in this country. He ate so much pizza growing up as a kid, the local pizza place, Italian Village, hired him as a delivery person while he was in school so that he could offset the cost of the amount of pizza he consumed. John even had pizza delivered to his brother Rick's wedding reception. As an adult, he was an investor in the Harlem Pizza Co. which was founded by his close friends and neighbors. All of John's birthdays were celebrated with an annual Pizza-Fest which he thoroughly enjoyed.

John's favorite rock band was The Cure. John and his brother Rick attended many Cure concerts together throughout his life. John would see them in different cities across the US whenever they were on tour. His favorite Cure Album was Disintegration and would insist that this be mentioned in his life story.

John had a great love of quoting lines from popular movies and was always ready with a quip from classic films such as "Caddyshack", "Stripes", "Up The Academy", "Animal House", "Meatballs", "Slapshot", "Night Shift", "Heavyweights" and "Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas" just to name a few.

John will always be remembered for being a loving son, a caring brother, an adoring uncle, and a thoughtful human being. He was the ultimate teammate and thrived most when part of a team that was working together towards a common goal. He was generous, polite, and friendly and made friends wherever he lived, played, worked, or just visited. While it is only natural that we will all miss him, he would ask everyone who knew him to celebrate his life and his friendship and to remember him by living your life to the fullest and never taking even a single day for granted.

The family intends to hold a Celebration of John's life at Fortina Restaurant, 136 South Ridge Street, Rye Brook, NY 10573 on Sunday, August 1, 2021, at 12:30 PM.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in John's memory be made to either the Garden of Dreams Foundation at www.gardenofdreamsfoundation.org or the Best Friends pet rescue organization at https://bestfriends.org/donate/memory