John Miles Watcher

Watcher, John Miles, 9/24/56 - 12/26/10, died Sunday, December 26,2010, in Mendoza, Argentina. John was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and moved to California with his parents in 1963. He graduated from Fountain Valley High School in 1976 and received his BS in chemistry from California State University-Long Beach. John joined the Boeing Company, Huntington Beach, CA in 1985 as an analytical chemist. He worked on thermal control coatings, and corrosion and contamination control for the International Space Station, Delta, Titan IV and Delta IV rocket programs. John was always full of excitement and enthusiasm for adventure and artistry and lived his life doing both. He enjoyed creating pottery, riding motorcycles, scuba diving, sky diving, mountain biking, and mountain climbing. He was an accomplished mountain climber having climbed Denali in 2005, and Aconcagua in 2002/3 for the first time. During his recent climb and summit of Aconcagua in December of 2010 he developed high altitude sickness and expired on December 26. John's infectious laughter and thoughtfulness toward everyone who knew him will be sorely missed by his family and friends. We wish John Godspeed on his journey to Heaven. John is survived by his parents, John Sr. and Patricia, daughter, Chelsea; stepson, Kyle, stepmother, Mabe; brothers, Mark and his wife, Jamie, Dave and his wife, Marisol; sisters, Dr. Melissa Watcher Glenn and her husband, Tom, Colleen Rabens and her husband, Mark, and his companion, Trang Pham and her son, Kevin; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at St. John's Lutheran Church, 185 S. Center Street, Orange, California, 92866, on February 12, at 1PM. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the "John M. Watcher Mountain Rescue Fund" at Gus Molina, 28 Rosy Finch Ln, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656.