John Andrew Marlin

This young man is my nephew! A shining star! One of the bravest,most kind souls that I will ever know. A very loving nephew, a true friend. Definitely a GIVER not a taker!! It makes me very happy to know that he lives on by sharing some of himself with others!
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Its not the years in the life, but the life in the years- Abraham Lincoln A couple months after John received his first drivers license he filled out the back. When he turned 17 and got his new unrestricted license he again filled out the back and also registered online at Michigan’s Organ and Tissue Donor Registry. He did this on his own and told me about it after he had done it. I am not sure what lead to his decision but I thought then, and still think, that it was a generous and wonderful thing to do. We are very proud of John. John loved sports, especially basketball and football, which he loved to play. He enjoyed watching high school, college and professional teams. He was proud to be a Traverse City Central Trojan. John said “sports are important”. I found this statement, along with the little drawing of the baseball players, on this quilt square, on several of his school papers. He was constantly drawing on his homework and school notes. He enjoyed drawing funny pictures for his friends during class time. Whenever John played team sports he tried to get the jersey with the number 23. For as long as I can remember this has been his favorite number. One of Johns 7th grade football coaches gave John the nickname Pigpen as the Coach thought Johns changing voice sounded like the Peanuts character. John went from being an extremely shy little boy to being a confident outgoing young man. Several friends have told me that John made a point to sit by them and make them feel comfortable when they were new to class or school, that he was a good friend who brightened bad days and and made them feel good about themselves. John had a quick wit and was always making everyone laugh, he loved joking around and telling jokes. His freckled face smile with sparkling eyes are lovingly remembered by family, friends and teachers. The quote at the beginning is from Johns friends, it is how they feel about his life. In any memorial or memory they have created in honor of John, I have seen this quote as the header. “Its not the years in the life, but the life in the years”- Abraham Lincoln