"John's Funeral was held in Oswego, NY. He was our dear friend, and we all love and miss him. Below is what was said by Kevin Bradberry at his funeral. John will be remembered and truly missed. There is a void in our lives that will never be filled. He was a great man, friend, and leader.

"I have made many acquaintances in my life. I can count my friends on one hand.
A friend is someone who's not afraid to tell you the truth about yourself.
A friend is someone who uses all their resources to help you when you CAN'T help yourself.
A friend is someone who keeps you grounded and helps you remember where you came from.
A friend is someone who helps you see where you're going and who you'll be when you get there.
A friend is someone who's not afraid to be themselves around you, and someone who demands that you be yourself around them.
A friend is someone who knows you - The real you!
A friend is someone who knows you love them, and someone who's not afraid to show you that they love you too.
A friend is someone you respect, and someone who respects you.
A friend is someone you can disagree with, and someone you can work through that disagreement with.
(You may challenge each other's point of view, but you never challenge the mutual respect you have for each other.)
A friend stands beside you, supports you, helps you grow, makes you grow, challenges you, kicks you in the butt when you need it, tells you the truth, and never falters.
A friend is someone who pushes you to be better: (A better whatever you want to be) A better father, A better mother, a better business man or woman, a better leader, a better person…the best you can be.


John Lewis Pastore was my friend.

Today, I have been given a great honor. I'm not sure that I deserve it, but I'm honored to have the chance to tell you what John meant to me. And I want him to know that I tried my best: That when I was given this opportunity to speak about him to the last congregation that may ever gather in one place to honor him, I did what any friend would do. I showed him the respect, the thanks, the love, the admiration, and the appreciation, that I felt he deserved as a person, and as my friend.

My name is Kevin Bradberry. I'm the owner of TK Worldwide (a national sales recruiting, training, and consulting company based out of Tampa, FL). John was a private consultant who worked exclusively for our company for almost 4 years. John, and his company "Sales Solutions" have been a huge part of our success. His wisdom, experience, leadership, and guidance carried us through some very challenging beginnings. 4 years ago, John asked me for a job, and then he made me keep mine. It's going to be more like work and less like a family without him.

John was always there for me, even when I didn't know I needed him. He was an angel on earth….In disguise…A no nonsense guardian angel who didn't take crap from anyone!

John gave me advice even when I didn't know I needed it. He guided me through many tough decisions, that had I made the wrong choices, would have changed my life for the worse. He was always there: He will always be there.

By now some of you might be saying, "that's not the John I knew, or yeah that sounds like him alright." Either way, people are who "we" perceive them to be. At the end of our lives we are loved equally as much as we loved others. Our journey through life is as challenging as we decide to make it: We grow spiritually, mentally, and emotionally only as much as we allow ourselves to grow, and not one inch more. A person's life and success is not "truly" measured by possessions: A person's life and success is measured by deeds and by how much character they have. Character is built one decision, one mistake, and one action at time. None of us are exempt from making mistakes: mistakes are not what makes us who we are. It's what we do after those mistakes that shapes us. That! Is what made him great. John learned from his mistakes, then spent his life teaching others how not to make the same ones that were now, in hindsight so crystal clear to him.

John's job (his career) was "teaching others how to avoid the mistakes that hurt other people." In his own special "John Pastore" way, he tried to teach those who were willing to be taught. He offered his years of experience, trials, tribulations, mistakes, pain, joy, love, hard lessons, quick wins, failures and successes, as tools to guide others to a better a life. After reviewing every class that John taught for my company, and according to my most accurate calculations, John gave 96,268 people 100% of himself, and he offered them the tools they needed to find a better way to live. Mind you, this does not including the countless future generations of children raised by better parents, and better providers that will all have a better life because of one man.

Food for thought: While some of you may feel cheated because of John's seeming emotional unavailability, think of the hundreds of thousands of people who learned from his mistakes. John is a great man and I have witnessed his greatness, many many times over. Here are some of the things that John has told me hundreds of times. I wrote them down without a pause for thought. I'm sure I could think of many more, if I just had the time. Get it done!
Take the day off! You deserve it!
Be a good husband!
Be a good father!
If you're going to do it half way, DON'T BOTHER!
When you come to work, WORK!
Do this for you. And IF YOU SEE FIT, do this for me.

John Pastore showed me my limits, and then, he taught me how to see past them.

He made me stronger, he made me work harder, he kept me in check, he helped me see who I was, where I was going, and how to get there.
I loved him and will always love him, like a son should love his father: Like a friend should love a friend."


MISS ME - BUT LET ME GO!


When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me,
I want no nights in a gloom-filled room;
Why cry for a soul set free!


Miss me a little - but not too long
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that we once shared -
Miss me - but let me go.


For this is a journey we all must take
And each must go alone.
It's all part of the Master's plan;
A stop on the way to home.


When you are lonely and sick of heart,
Go to the friends we know,
And bury your sorrow in doing deeds!
Miss me - but let me go.

Author Unknown