John Longdon Knoebber

John spent his childhood in Florida, one of five children, Steve, Roger, Susan, Sarah and John. At the tender age of 17, he joined Roger's family in their homemade camper and drove across the country to arrive in Mendocino, CA. His life would take many twists and turns as he traveled the world, but he was to call Mendocino home for much of his life.
John had and enduring love of creating and making things, especially art. As a young newly arrived transplant to Mendocino, he started a leather making shop with a partner. When this endeavor became stressed, John gave the shop's tools and inventory to his partner and moved on. He followed this pattern of moving on as he moved through life.
He became involved with the mosaic artist, Larry Fuente, and they worked together on many remarkable pieces through the decades. During the best of times they worked and lived together. Their lives ended within days of each other. And Larry's ashes will join John in the deep sea burial.
John worked and traveled the world with award winning photographer Louie Psihoyos between 1994 and 1999. They created articles for National Geographic, a coffee table book - Hunting for Dinosaurs - and contributed to Material World among other works.
John loved to sail and he sailed his vessel away to Zihuantanejo looking for some heat to sooth his aching body. He met and fell in love with Ivette Servin and together they created their son Patricio, born in 2002.
In Mexico, as usual, John became involved with building houses. He created an oceanfront community and built several houses for investors and himself. His presence was the impetus for a caravan of people to come down to experience and invest in property around Barra de Potosi. He spent several years enjoying his young son and partner there on the beach.
When it was time to move on, he returned to Mendocino and took up work and residence again with Larry Fuente, until the catastrophic electrical fire that burned down the art collection of a life time, the buildings and worst of all, John was badly burned and barely escaped with his life. He was helicoptered to a trauma center.
When he was released, his longtime friend and nephew, Cosmo Knoebber, invited him home. They built a modest little dwelling suitable for an invalid. There, John lived out his remaining years as a valued member of Cosmo's tribe.