As John's friend for over 25 years, I have more stories than I can count and each is better than the next; as his attorney, I can't tell any of them.

I love John for that.

Robin

It's hard to believe it's been over a month since John passed. His loss has impacted me greatly and it has taken this much time for me to accept that he is no longer on the other end of the phone each day and to reflect on his impact on my life, both personal and professional. John was a boss, a leader , a mentor, a confidant, a teammate but most of all a great friend. In business, his philosophy of "take care of the customer and they will take care of you" has been ingrained in me and it is the philosophy I adhere to every day. I believe following this has allowed me to be more successful in business over the years. He also impressed upon me that "NO" is not an answer to a customer that results in a long-term partnership. He always said to me that there is always some middle ground and finding that takes you much further w/ a customer than "No" will.

From a personal standpoint his friendship has just been a blessing. John was always fun, engaging, interested in my family and interested in my interests outside of work. He also was unbelievably helpful in providing insight and perspective during some rough times in my life. As I write this John's memorial picture sits on my desk. As he stares at me each day w/ his slightly off-center bow tie and that great smile I realize how much I miss talking with him. But every day looking at that picture makes me smile because of all the great memories I have of this special man.

Dean DiGregorio
U.S. Foodservice
Vice President, Hospitality

As I look at the photo of John, with that sparkle in his eye, it is still somewhat hard to believe he is no longer with us. I do suspect he is watching us from above to monitor our progress in perpetuating the legacy he developed.

In my mind John was a visionary, not impressed with the status quo and always trying to drive more value for USF through fact based analysis, customer focus and mutual success. To his credit, through all of the ownership changes and collateral challenges, the customer focused model he championed was a stabilizing force that continues to be at the core of our success.

In the final analysis life does go on following anyone's departure. However, for us, life goes on with a special enrichment for having had the opportunity to know and work with John. He has passed the puck to us and our responsibility is to drive it to the net, repeatedly.

John Ormsby
Director, Health Systems

These images are of pictures of John from the 2005 Nashville Meeting:

From Theresa Madden, Director of Health Systems - U.S. Foodservice, Rosemont Support Office

These images are of John and Jill in a sales meeting in Mexico in 2006:

From Diana Brokaw Healthcare Region Director - North

These images are of John Cabot from the 2006 National Sales Meeting:

From Diana Brokaw Healthcare Region Director - North

From Dennis Riggs:

I first met John in the Spring of 1977, when he came to the Kraft Foodservice office to teach the St. Louis sales force how to sell turkey. Kraft Foodservice had just gone broadline and the sales force had to get up to speed on product knowledge and selling skills very quickly, if we were to compete against the other broadliners. You see, Kraft Foodservice only had the Kraft manufactured items to sell before we went broadline and our sales force did not know how to sell pies, turkeys, beef, non-foods etc. John was the regional representative for Louis Rich turkey products and he was going to make us professionals when it came to selling turkeys. He did a great presentation and Chuck Heisinger (from Kraft Foodservice HQ) was so impressed with what John had done that day, he hired John to go to work for Kraft Foodservice at HQ. I remember in 1978, I was a sales representative in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and John traveled to Cape Girardeau from HQ to interview me for the Silver Plate Award. An award John created in Kraft Foodservice for the 2nd and 3rd place COP sales person in all of Kraft Foodservice. The Gold Plate was for the #1 person. Over the years, our paths crossed many times after I moved in sales management at Kraft, Alliant, and US Foodservice. John was probably one of the nicest, kindest individuals I ever knew in our organization. He never forgot your name and always made you feel like he had a personal interest in you when he was talking with you, even when his schedule would be so hectic and with long hours ahead. He will be missed. We did not loose a good man, we lost a great man. I only hope his legacy and what he did for our organization will continue. Here's to you John!

Dennis E. Riggs
US Foodservice - St. Louis

Peter Cayan's memories shared in photos: