Mourners recall radio host Big John as a man who lived his faith through service to others

DAYTONA BEACH — Parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church would sometimes tell their pastor that Big John — a former Volusia County councilman-turned-radio host who died Sunday — considered himself a "recovering Catholic."

They would tell the Rev. Phil Egitto: "Father Phil, John is a baptized Catholic. You need to get him back in church."

Egitto, who gave a sermon at Big John's memorial service Saturday at the beachside church, knew that as he had many discussions with John about faith.

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"I would say to them: He IS in church. Because church is not a building where we gather and worship," Egitto said.

Rather than slump into a pew week after week, John lived his faith.

"Big John was the voice of the voiceless," Egitto said. "He spoke out for those who were poor, those who were oppressed, those who were struggling, those who had any kind of need in their life. Not only was he generous and shared what he had, but he spoke up for justice in our community."

The event drew hundreds from all stratospheres of Volusia County to memorialize a quirky man known for both self-promotion and humility. Some stayed for food from two of Big John's favorite restaurants, the Oyster Pub and Mario's.

Two of his longtime friends, Renee Gahagan and Mark Reed, gave his eulogy in the form of a conversation.

Gahagan, who knew Big John for 52 years, said he came to her home for Christmas dinner for most of the last 45 years, and he would critique what she was wearing.

"Because he was such fashionista," she said about a man known to wear Crocs most everywhere and whose trademark was a blue work shirt with his name stitched to the breast.

Last Christmas, John called her and said he couldn't make it for dinner, that he had to go to the hospital. She promised him they would celebrate the holiday when he was able, so she hung on to the cranberry dress her children had given to her waiting for that day.

"Today I'm wearing my Christmas dress that he didn't even see, but I'm hoping he's looking down on us," she said.

Reed said John's outsized life had reach beyond the hundreds who gathered Saturday.

"He was a wonderful man," Reed said. "He touched all of our lives, and so many more that couldn't make it today, and he's helped people that probably didn't know where the help was coming from."

Gahagan pointed to some of the people who captured John's attention.

"If you were an abused or abandoned child, he fought for you. If you were a victim of rape, man or woman, he fought for you. If you were homeless, he fought for you," she said. "He never stopped fighting."

John had a difficult childhood himself, friends said. He rose from poverty to become a successful businessman as the owner of three tire and muffler stores, and his interest in public policy led him to run for the Volusia County Council. He won three terms between 1984 and 2002, when he then transitioned into a career as an afternoon talk show host on WELE-AM 1380.

Gahagan said that the memorial service of hundreds included some of whom he joked were his "19 listeners."

'We live the questions'

Egitto said he had many conversations with John about faith.

John's doubts about God and faith didn't deter Egitto.

"No two Catholics think the same thing about anything. In fact, as Big John would say he was a recovering Catholic, that's why he found his home here at Lourdes. If you've ever been to church here, you know that we're all a bunch of recovering Catholics," Egitto said.

"We live the questions. We don't have all the answers to every question our heart can come up with. We live together with those questions. That's for us at Lourdes what it means to be church," Egitto said. "We say that we love the God we cannot see by loving the neighbor we can. That's what we're about and that's what Big John was about."

What people didn't know about Big John

Clay Beazley, owner of All-Florida Plumbing and Electrical Supply, said John was probably his best salesman, plugging his business regularly.

"I have an empty spot in my heart now because I would talk to him anywhere between three and four, maybe five times a week," Beazley said. "If I didn't call him, he would call me and say, 'Are you mad at me?'" Beazley said.

Regularly, John would bump into someone who needed help with their home. And John would call Beazley and say: "What can we do?"

Beazley said either he or one of his employees would fix the problem.

"If it meant something to him, it meant something to me. That's the kind of relationship I had with him."

But Beazley never ceased to be amazed when he would get to an address and think: "How in the world do you even know this guy?"

"But whenever he had a sad story with something he thought the people needed help, he would go to bat for them," Beazley said. "And that's what people didn't know about him."

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This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Big John memorialized at Our Lady of Lourdes service in Daytona Beach