Born in Hawaii, John and his family were evacuated to San Jose, California after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  He was a man of many passions and accomplishments. After graduating from Campbell High School and San Jose City College, he  went on to embark on a 35 year career as a Tool and Die Maker starting at  FMC then moving on to  Hewlett Packard. An excellent athlete, baseball catcher-turned golfer, he ranked in the top five  golfers with a 4 handicap at the Villages Golf Course. He was also a fan of  the 49ers, A's, Warriors, and Stanford Girls Basketball.

While still in high school, John, along with his best friend and later brother -in-law, John Giannetto built a racing cracker box boat they named "The VooDoo." Twenty years later, he would go on to restore a 1934 Ford sedan, making many of the parts himself. His beautiful '34 Ford escorted his daughters and nieces to their weddings and toured in parades. He raised and raced homing pigeons, grew and trained Bonsai trees, always had a vegetable garden growing, and was famous for his pineapple ham. Another huge achievement later in life was his training and running marathons with his daughter Debra and many of her friends. John loved life, had a positive outlook, and made friends with everyone he met.

John is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law,  Debra and Dan Creighton and Laurie and Ray Pizzuti; his four grandchildren Cody and Nicholas Creighton and Addie and Dalton Pizzuti  were the light of his life.  John is predeceased by his wife and the love of his life Florence, brothers, Robert and Chalres Montilla, his parents Alfred and Louise Montilla.

In lieu of flowers, the family would ask that you make a donation to the Second Harvest Food Bank.