By Jeff Clemetson | Editor

Community mourns the loss, remembers the life of John F. Pilch

On Tuesday, May 3, the Navajo community lost one of its most involved residents when John F. Pilch died from a fast-acting cancer at the age of 76. Pilch was a longtime community leader who served on various local, city and county boards and committees. He was also a regular contributor to this publication.

For the past 20 years up until his death, Pilch served the San Carlos Area Council, twice as president, and as vice president and secretary. He also served as chair of the San Carlos/Lake Murray Recreation Council from 2012 on.

“He loved this community, he just loved it,” said Judy Pilch, John’s wife of 47 years. “And he didn’t do anything for any recognition, he just did it because he just loves this community.”

Judy described her husband as “the guard dog of San Carlos” — an appropriate description according to the people who worked closely with him.

“He was Mr. San Carlos,” San Diego City Councilmember Scott Sherman said. “He didn’t have any kids, but everyone in San Carlos was connected and part of his family, the way he looked at it.”

Before he passed, Pilch was awarded a proclamation from the city making April 14, 2016, John Pilch Day in San Diego.

“It listed all of his accomplishments, which were numerous in that community,” Sherman said.

The city is also looking into naming the community garden at the San Carlos Rec Center in Pilch’s honor.

“We’re trying to get it done — bring in all the stakeholders, make sure everyone agrees — we’re looking at it right now,” Sherman said. “That’s where I used to run into John the most, the community garden.”

Jay Wilson, executive director of the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation, worked with Pilch for more than 20 years. Pilch sat on the Mission Trails Regional Park Citizens Advisory Committee for 18 years and the two were part of the group that produced the 4th of July Music Fest and Fireworks Display held at Lake Murray from 2004 to 2011.

“There were three of us crazy enough to put on a show with a $50,000 price tag and invite 6,000 of our closest friends, and he chaired that from day one,” Wilson said.

Although the 4th of July event eventually ended due to the possibility of litigation if there was an accidental fire, Pilch and Wilson continued to show their patriotism by donating their time to another community project.

“For almost 15 years he and I put up American flags on Navajo Road,” Wilson said. “We did this every legal holiday. I think we missed one.”

Pilch was also an active supporter of emergency responders. He was a volunteer disaster service worker for the San Diego County Community Emergency Response Team from 2004 to 2014 and a member of the San Diego Police Department’s Use of Force Task Force in 2002.

And on every anniversary of 9/11, Pilch would bring cakes to local fire and police stations.

“You can’t replace somebody like that; who has that kind of energy and commitment and time to do what he did,” Wilson said.

From 2000 to 2009 and again from 2010 to 2012, Pilch was a board member of the Navajo Community Planners Inc. (NCPI) and served as chair from 2002 to 2005.

Last year, he could have run again for the NCPI board but chose not to so he could offer his opinions on the projects in ways boardmembers cannot, said Terry Cords, who represents Allied Gardens on the NCPI board and worked closely with Pilch on a number of issues.

“John felt more empowered as a political commentator, in a sense, than he did actually being on the board,” Cords said. “I thought that was an interesting approach because I don’t think many people expected that. I think they would have thought John wanted to be right in the middle, controlling it, pulling the strings and that wasn’t John in many ways.”

“He was a great guy, very passionate about the community and worked very hard to make our area a better place, which he did,” said Matt Adams, current NCPI chair. “He is going to be sorely missed and is absolutely irreplaceable and the community has suffered a big loss.”

Pilch was well-known for the extra effort he would put into his community work, going above the rest in being prepared and knowledgeable about the issues.

“He would take on any issue that he felt strongly about and he did it at a level where there’s probably nobody who will equal his involvement level,” Wilson said.

“One of things John would do is faithfully watch the local television network for government and watch the council meetings and watch the planning board meetings,” Cords said. “He would go and testify at a number of those as well, and he would always take the trolley down. He didn’t like to drive and park, so he took the trolley down. And he would be there for hours, if he had to be, to get his testimony in. He was one of those guys that if he had something, he was a bulldog. He had a bone in his mouth and you weren’t going to get it out.”

Judy Pilch said it was just her husband’s nature.

“He loved knowing things. He was interested in everything in this community and in this city,” she said. “One of a kind, there should be more like him, I think.”

Pilch’s knowledge of the issues and his passion for his community made him a valuable asset, even to those he sometimes disagreed with.

“He actually worked here in my office,” Sherman said. “John and I are different political parties but, I tell you what, I respect the guy’s love of community so much, that I wanted to bring him in here.”

Pilch was born in and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He went to Cathedral Latin High School and then went on to study psychology at John Carroll University in Ohio. John and Judy were married in 1969 while John pursued a law degree at Cleveland Marshall College of Law. He graduated in 1970.

“John put himself through law school while working for the Travelers Insurance company as a claims examiner,” Judy Pilch said. “In those days you had to be either in law school or a lawyer to be a claims examiner. Today you need to be 17 with a clipboard.”

in 1973 the couple moved to Hartford, Connecticut, when John was transferred to work in the Travelers’ main offices there. In 1977, he was transferred to San Diego and became claims manager of Travelers’ legal malpractice office, specializing in risk management. After retiring from Travelers, Pilch worked short stints at a few other companies in San Diego before fully retiring and dedicating himself to community involvement.

In addition to the community groups Pilch served with that were mentioned above, he also served as vice-chair on the City of San Diego Parking Advisory Board from 2006 to 2011; chaired the administration and audit committee for the San Diego County Grand Jury from 2007 to 2007; held various officer positions at the Lake Murray Kiwanis from 2000 to 2011; and was an advisory committee member for Building Better Health East County from 2010 to 2013.

“That guy was out every weekend doing something for this community,” Adams said. “This really is a big loss, not only for his family, but for the community at large. We’re going to miss him terribly.”

—Write to Jeff Clemetson at [email protected].