John H. Antes

John H. Antes of Wayland died 14 years after being diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. He was born in Canton, Ohio, the son of Blanchard and Maurine Antes. John loved to fly. He began at the age of 16. He joined the Navy after college to avoid the draft and to fly. He became a Centurion, making more than 100 carrier landings on three tours to the Far East. One Saturday in his second year of medical school, he closed a text book and said he was going back to flying. He retired at the then-mandatory age of 60 after 29 years with TWA. He was the pilot everyone hoped for. His love of planes continued, identifying different planes by their sound, flying in his dreams where he could land on city streets, talking with his grandson about the features of each plane he flew when he came to visit. Life after flying became one of volunteering. A friend said he lived to give. He drove for Meals on Wheels for more than 20 years. He took people to their medical appointments and helped seniors with their finances. He recorded church pledge payments for at least 25 years and served as an usher and a trustee despite not being a meeting person. He paid attention to namesof restaurant servers, the towns police and fire fighters; even the names of streets and towns he traveled through years earlier. He could name all the medical staff at MGH who treated him with such kindness and skill. And he loved his family: his daughter Susan who became a nurse on her road to fulfilling her dream of being a veterinarian and whose advice to get a dog he rejected, and his son David who cared so lovingly for his Dad that MGH staff asked where David was if someone else came to pick John up. He was into ham radio and worked the Boston Marathon and the Run of the Charles. He could eat seven servings of Oreos in one sitting (21 cookies). He loved classical music, going to plays, and attending the concerts of neighborhood children. He was the ideal patient, sitting for hours of treatments without complaint and always asking about the care-givers family. Jill, the steadfast nurse practitioner, described him as an impeccably gentle man. He leaves behind his wife of six days short of 58 years, his children Susan and David, his grandson Matt, Susans husband Todd and Daves Leslie; brother Bob and his wife Diane and sister Mary and her husband Dale Fike, nieces and nephews Sally, Tom, Betsy, John, Mike, Randi, Jenni, and Trudi and their spouses and children. No service was held as the life he lived was celebration enough. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, P.O. Box 414238, Boston, MA 02241-4238.