John W. Tripp, born February 3, 1948, passed away from this earth and into the afterlife March 21st, 2026, from Alzheimer complicated illnesses.

John came into this world in New York, New York and was raised first in the idyllic Long Island town of Bayport.  He had fond memories of a childhood proximate to Great South Bay, fishing with his brother Marty (Martin), they caught shiners in Brown’s Creek and sold them for 10 cents a cup, an early foray into a life of selling and making deals.  On occasion, he and Marty would take the family skiff across the bay to Fire Island.  His love of the ocean, fishing and crabbing would have been shaped in these formative years.

His family relocated to Hempstead, NY when John was a pre-teen.  At the Salvation Army, run by local icon Don Ryan, John was an active participant in all sports, and his deadly knock-hockey and ping-pong skills were homed in countless hours there.

In the summer before his high school freshman year, John embraced a workout regimen of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups (on the door jams of the family house) and bicep curls (with cement buckets attached to broom stick ends) that transformed his physique and lead to lifetime of intense calisthenic exercise. 

John became a standout athlete at Hempstead High School earning first team all Long-Island in football twice, and several features in the New York Daily News, the then largest circulated newspaper in the world he liked to share.  John also held the school shot-put record for decades.

His prowess as a football player and academic achievement earned him recruitment by over 70 colleges and universities and admittance into every Ivy League and Military Academy that had a football program.  Following an uncomfortable evening at the Harvard Club, the story of which is the stuff of family lore, John passed on the Crimson and opted for a to enroll at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in the Fall of 1966. 

John transferred to Colgate (’70 BA Economics) and was a member of the fraternity Phi Delta Epsilon.  John briefly joined Marty at Colgate football, but the transfer rules required that he sit out a year, a penalty that John forever bristled against, and the fire was gone.  John instead joined Colgate lacrosse and despite having never played team lax was able to parlay his brute strength and speed to be the Raider’s leading goal scorer as a junior and senior. 

In the summer of 1968, John met his soulmate and lifelong love, Anne (ne Arena), at the Tiger’s Tail, a nightclub in Long Island.  John liked to reminisce that his first move was to double Anne’s order before the close of happy hour, which clearly worked.  They danced the night away and fell instantly in love.  They were a constant presence in each other’s lives – weekends at Jone’s Beach, West End, and later in weekends at Colgate or in Oneonta where Anne studied at the State University of New York. While Anne’s sisters remarked that John was a “hunk,” Anne was enamored with his razor-sharp sense of humor (equal parts self-deprecation and the doling out of affectionate rapid-fire jibes).  Just weeks after graduating they married on June 14th, 1970.

John began his professional career at Proctor & Gamble selling branded consumer products like Pampers and Bounty Towels.  In 1980, he joined the Ernest & Julio Gallo Winery where John served in leadership roles in the eastern region for over 40 years.  He had a deep commitment to the Gallo and savored his time particularly under the tutelage of co-founder Ernest.  John’s bold leadership, relentless mentoring, lightning-fast financial acumen, cutting common-sense principles and fierce independence were legendary at Gallo and given space to thrive in the brilliant family-run business.  He simply loved to be part of the winery, took satisfaction in his coaching tree that reflects his contribution to the development of myriad executives at Gallo and in the wine & spirts industry, and was forever grateful for the generosity of the Gallo family.

John and Anne had three children, Johnny (John P.), Brian and Gary.  As a father, he was a devoted mentor, coach, motivator and teacher.  He passed on his love for sports; shooting hoops, throwing footballs and baseballs for countless hours in the cul-de-sac of Medford and Montville, New Jersey where they primarily lived.  John prioritized family holidays. He often joked he negotiated vacation time before his wages, and they travelled together on many trips to Yellowstone, Lake Powell, Bermuda, Vail, Disney World, California, Alaska (to name a memorable few) but John’s happiest times on vacation were in Duck, North Carolina.  Here he fished the blue fish blitz of the spring and surfed the sand bars in the summer.  The family crabbed for Currituck blue claws and bundled under blankets to watch lunar eclipses from their back porch. 

John held faith in & lived the power and possibility of self-transformation.  The hundreds of stories he told his sons and grandchildren (and told them again and again!) were replete with the theme that an individual can shape their destiny by making choices that surround themselves with positive opportunities.  Though John would pass his stories as mere autobiography his tails always imparted some deep lessons in life about rising above fear or humility, a comfort in taking risks, making mistakes and moving on despite them.  He spoke really about victory or loss, glory or embarrassment and the opportunity to embrace personal growth from such experience.    

While John attended Catholic mass with Anne and his sons for decades, reading the bible cover to cover several times in lieu of the prostrations and gesticulations of liturgy, his spirituality was perhaps most at home in the pragmatic optimism of Dale Carnegie and Norman Vincent Peale.  The latter’s great work, The Power of Positive Thinking, was a constant companion for John and the dog-eared pages, yellow highlighted and asterisked statements and quotes were testimony to the conviction he possessed.  He carried in his wallet Peale’s aphorisms and quotes from scripture: “If God is for me, then Who can be Against Me,” and “I can accomplish all things through Christ who strengthen Me.”  While by no means an acolyte of the above, it was clear if you spent any time with John talking about life and its perils that he was a relentless optimist.

An important place and abundantly happy time in John’s life was the family’s membership in the Lake Valhalla Club, Montville, New Jersey from 1985 to 2005.  Here at “the lake”, John found his community of others, weekend warriors, where comradeship was built around a non-stop and competitive environment of soft-ball, tennis, volleyball, platform tennis and (above all) golf!  These were people like John who worked hard, prioritized family, loved a good gin and tonic and felt if you didn’t make fun of somebody you couldn’t possibly like them.  Amidst the slew of activities and socializing where amazing personalities, great athletes, and wonderful human beings.     

Lake Valhalla produced enduing friendships and some of that crew made it to Skidaway Island, Georgia where the brotherly ties and golf continued.  As John faced the decline of his disease, his friends kept him golfing, engaged and connected.  His life and quality of life were prolonged by their generosity of spirit and amazing compassion for him. 

As a grandfather, aka “Hapa,” John was gentle, generous, inspiring and playful. He was always up for a vacation (especially if the grandkids were asking) – and they made it to Florida, Wyoming, and the Jersey shore through the years.  They remember fondly countless hours playing and teaching games:  cards, rummikub, risk, golf, and shooting hoops (HORSE or OUT).  Mostly they will remember how available he was to each one of them, how earnestly curious he was about their lives, what they thought and how they felt.   

John is pre-deceased by his parents Martin and Alma Tripp, sisters Caroline and Helen, and sister-in-law Janet Arena, and in-laws Rocco and Clara Arena.  He is survived by his wife Anne, sons John, Brian and Gary, daughters-in law Erin, Sachi and Mandy and grandchildren Colin, Braeden, Owen, Lily, Nate, Norah, Harvey, Clyde and Gus, his brother Marty and sister-in-law Valerie Arena.  For these John is beloved, and for those friends and family who are unmentioned and gave so much to John and his journey, they will remember John William Tripp a good man and a life well lived. 

In lieu of flowers, the family ask you consider a donation to Alzheimer or Autism research or the Salvation Army.