received a B.A. in economics from Princeton University in 1971, and a Juris Doctor degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law, Tenn. John had extensive experience in

construction and home remodeling and was a landlord for 28 years.

Raised in Maryland, John relocated to Reading in the 1980s. His community involvement began almost

immediately upon moving to Berks County. A reflection of his endeavors in Reading along with comments from local Civic leaders was highlighted in the Reading Eagle's

January 11th edition. John was also a member of Calvary UCC, Reading, and the Centre Park Historic District and a volunteer at St. Margaret's Church, Reading.

Public service and social justice were always the motivators of his life far more than amassing wealth or

attaining high ranking jobs. Although he earned a law

degree from Vanderbilt, he never worked as a lawyer,

preferring instead to put his legal skills to use on causes in which he strongly believed. He was always an advocate for children and for the poor.

When his brother, Eric, died tragically in a canoeing

accident in 1971, John, along with his parents, sister-in-law, family members and friends, used the insurance money to build and operate a camp in West Virginia for the 6th grade children of Charles County, Md., where Eric had taught school. For many of these disadvantaged children this was a first excursion outside of Maryland. John devoted his life to the camp for five years before returning to school to get his degree in law.

Along with his earnest public service, John will be

remembered as a kind gentleman who lived to serve others and cared deeply for his adopted home of Reading.

John is survived by his longtime companion, Sandra Seifret, of Reading, Pa.; his "adopted" son, Wesley Luchetta; a sister-in-law, Reola Phelps, of Denver, Colo.; and cousins: Bonnie Bowen, Ventura, Calif.; Katherine Remick, Atlanta, Ga.; Sally Alcorn, Boston, Mass.; Lyn Churchill, Tokyo, Japan; Roberta Ginini, Fresno, Calif.; and Nan Jesser, Denver, Colo.

He was predeceased by a brother, Eric Tucker Slifko.

Friends are invited to gather to celebrate John's life on Saturday, January 19th, at 1:00 p.m. at Calvary UCC, 640 Centre Ave., Reading, PA 19601. A service and memorial presentation will commence at 2:30 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in John's name to the Centre Park Historic District, 707 N. 5th St., Reading, PA 19601.

Arrangements entrusted to John P. Feeney Funeral Home Inc., 625 N. 4th Street at Centre Ave., Reading, PA 19601, 610-372-4160. Obituary and condolences at www.johnpfeeney.com.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Reading Eagle from Jan. 13 to Jan. 16, 2019.

Memories and Condolences
for John Slifko

Sponsored by Bonnie Tucker Bowen and Roberta Tucker Genini.

27 Entries

Marlene

January 7, 2024

Miss you John all ways to help and share information with you about things that are going on in the city of Reading

Bonnie Bowen

Planted Trees

Cathy Jameson

April 29, 2020

When I woke this morning, Johnny Slifko came to mind. He was drum major in my high school's marching band and his brother Eric was my prom date and good friend. His parents were lovely people. Many years have passed since I last saw them at Eric's passing. In reading the memories shared here I can see that Johnny continued his family's legacy of kindness, caring and generosity. Bless you, Johnny.

Bonnie Bowen

January 16, 2020

Love you, and miss you, dear cuz...

Marlene Hojnowski

January 9, 2020

I miss John was always ready to help you and listen to even when he was in a hurry.Always in my thoughts!

Karen Zimmerman

February 4, 2019

So sad! I only recently moved to Reading and exchanged quite a few emails and phone calls with John. He was a caring man with much integrity. This makes me incredibly sad. My condolences to his family.

Jeffrey Brown

January 27, 2019

I am so saddened to learn of John's passing. He and I were suite mates at Princeton for two years. He was a person of high intelligence and an even higher moral authority and social conscience. My fondest memory of John was when shortly after graduation he came by my house in his VW microbus and we headed up to Maine. He had to teach me to drive a standard stick shift before we left. We rented a canoe up and spent several days canoeing and camping. You get to appreciate someone when you really depend on one another for a period of time. I had tried on several occasions to reach out to John when I know he had relocated to Reading. I am not at all surprised to learn of his deep community involvement. He was a person who wanted to make things better for others, and he did. I know he shall be missed by all those whose life he touched.

James Anderson

January 26, 2019

John and I were friends in college at Princeton and roommates, or, more accurately, suitemates (five of us shared a suite) senior year. We got to know each other because the students at Princeton who had been American Field Service students had some activities together. John had spent a year in Sweden, as I recall. AFS students feel as if they were representatives of the U.S., and it doesn't surprise me that the John who was an AFS student later became a committed government official. John, as I remember him in college, was his own man, friendly, fun to be with, had a great sense of humor, and with a strong social conscience. With his fine intelligence, he also fit in well among the high-performing students at Princeton. I regret that I didn't keep up with him after college. He seemed to retreat from us, his college friends, after the great tragedy of his brother's death. The other of us four suitemates got together regularly over the years, and we always remembered and talked fondly of John at those times. As I read about him from other comments, I now wish I had tried harder to connect with him. Still, I am left with warm memories of a caring, lovely man.

Gretchen Cummings

January 20, 2019

What wonderful tributes have been written! My mom, Nancy (Rhodenizer) Jesser lived at Auntie Eth's with Eric and Johnny for a while. Some of my fondest memories of him were when I was a kid.
He and some of his buddies came to Colorado to build a garage for us. He had long curly dark hair, so different from how he looks now. Of course, somehow he saved the tree we had in the back yard and built the garage around it, which made for great tree climbing and sitting on the top of the garage. He had a fun sense of humor and also taught us how to eat raw cookie dough and in later years shared our family's genealogy with me. I'm sure he already has several projects lined up in heaven and still able to find at least a little bit of mischief. I will miss you cousin Johnny. God Bless you!

Diann Weishaar

January 20, 2019

What an awesome man!!! The world will be a much sadder place without him.

Ken Moore

January 20, 2019

Johnny was a good friend, smart with an inherent sense of what was right, fair and practical. All his classmates looked up to him and respected his leadership. RIP John you are missed.

January 19, 2019

We met John through our very dear friend & his companion of many years, Sandy. John did beautiful work on my mother's house, he was an extremely talented, kind and considerate person who will be dearly missed.

Cookie West & Sid Katz
Collingswood, NJ

Richard Tabler

January 18, 2019

John, May God bless and keep you. Our prayers for you, friend.

Rob Simmons

January 18, 2019

Johnny was my first next-door neighbor. He was always energetic, compassionate and very intelligent. I always admired his values and aspired to approach life the same way he did, with conviction and honor. He was a perfect ambassador of the Slifko family and mirrored the character of his father, mother and brother. God bless Johnny, I feel fortunate that I got to know him for the brief time we shared.

Dorothy and Robert Simmons & James Purcell

January 18, 2019

The Slifko's were our across the street neighbors for the most part of Johnny's childhood. He was an intelligent, caring and considerate person growing up. James, our son, and Johnny were born within 2 months of each other and they shared a close, meaningful bond. We were saddened to learn of his passing. God bless you, Johnny. Heaven has gained a jewel.

January 16, 2019

What a kind man, I remember him growing up on north third street. My mother always had a meal for him when he came home, You will be missed!

Demitrues Huston

January 15, 2019

Great lost to Centre Park, I met John when my husband and I move to Centre Park. He knock on our door ask did we want to replace the tree prior owner took down.
Over time while walking my dog I would see John working on someone home, walking or sitting on his pouch.

John and I would talk about the neighborhood or just life.

Centre Park has lost a Man who cared about Centre Park and the City of Reading.

John you will be missed.

Monika Winns

January 15, 2019

There is no way to describe how shocked I was when I seen it on the news we just seen John at IHOP and he took the time out to come over to talk to us we knew him for a long time now living in Reading before we moved he planted a tree right in front of our house he is such a kind loving man he will be deeply missed love talking to him the winns family.

John Printz

January 14, 2019

John was an amazing individual. Had it not been for him, Reading would not have the many trees that he planted. In our Centre Park neighborhood, John was a friend to everyone. He probably picked up more trash in our neighborhood than any other Centre Park resident. He advocated for all of us as our Council representative and listened to all of our concerns. He was genuinely concerned for the welfare of everyone and went over and beyond to assist neighbors who were in or who needed assistance with home repairs. John's passing was a shock to everyone, and he will be sorely missed, but never forgotten. John embodies what a "neighbor" really should be. John's gift was giving, not receiving. He was loved and respected by his Centre Park neighbors and friends.

Mark Talbot Jr.

January 14, 2019

I told my friend the other day about this passing of my mother's landlord, and he couldn't understand why I was saying it with such remorse. I told him, "You didn't know John Slifko. He wasn't your average landlord. Whether it was shoveling out neighbors cars on the block when there was snow blocking them in, or helping out tenants that weren't able to afford the rent on time, and going out of his way to make everyone in the neighborhood see the beauty I imagine he envisioned daily, by planting trees throughout the city, John was not an ordinary man. He was an exceptional one. His passing is heartbreaking but his legacy will hopefully live on. John was the definition of kindness, reverence, and philanthropic. He will be missed by many and hopefully his character will be emulated by many as well. John made this world a better one, and I am sure he's making Heaven just a little better as well. Rest in Peace John.

Wendie Fick

January 14, 2019

There are no words to describe your lose and the sadness this brings to me. You were always there for me like a father figure and a very good friend for the past twenty-four years and I am forever grateful for everything you have done for me. I know that you are in a much better place and I know that the day you arrived there you were told "well done". You are missed dearly. Until we meet again.

Marlene Hojnowski

January 14, 2019

John never had a bad word to say about anyone. He was always there for you and was very intelligence on every thing he did. I know everyone that was friends or that he came in contact will miss him dearly. Rest in peace John will never forget you !

Dawn, Mike, and Emily Kohl

January 13, 2019

We are deeply saddened to hear of his passing. John was a generous and soft-spoken man. who always had a nice smile and kind word for everyone he met. We enjoyed listening to him share his love of nature, and his community. He was a hard-working man, that achieved his greatest success in working with his hands, and being his natural self. We will always be so very grateful that you were part of our lives, our family's lives. All the times you were there for us and my husband's family, will never be forgotten. We are deeply thankful you were part of our family's get-together's also. The world was a much happier place with you in it. You are truly one of God's greatest treasures in this world. We will really miss your kind, generous, gentle soul. Till we meet again, our dearest of friends.

Bonnie Bowen

January 13, 2019

Our dear cousin Johnny leaves us a legacy of simple kindness, ethical labor, personal accessibility almost unknown in this day and age, ascetic self-discipline, and a slew of cherished memories, both of his sensitive mind at work and of peels of laughter brought on by his brilliant sense of humor. A few years ago he was there to help console my son Ben on the loss of Ben's older brother. Johnny knew Ben's grief well. One could wish our cuz were with us today to begin to help our broken hearts to heal now. Rest in peace, Johnny.

Maro Adams

January 13, 2019

Rest in Peace dear John. You were always very kind and you always had a smile on your face. You will be missed by very many people. God bless your soul.

Roberta Genini

January 13, 2019

I am so sad to hear of the death of my dear cousin Johnny. My sister and I share such beautiful childhood memories of times spent with Johnny and his big brother Eric in their Indian Head, MD home. We remained in contact through the years.

Buddy Ulrich

January 13, 2019

My Heart reaches out to the John Slifko Family & Friends! John was a kind and very giving soul to many people in his community and beyond! He will be missed greatly by many people! First met John many years ago through my friend Paul and Susie Neider, John was a great humanitarian!

Showing 1 - 27 of 27 results