John F. Lyskawa
August 9, 1950 - March 17, 2003

John was born and raised in Lyncourt, New York, which is in the Syracuse area. According to the writings in his high school yearbook, he was very much liked by his classmates. John loved animals and nature. He had many pictures of outdoor scenes that he took with his camera. His two favorite pet dogs were Bridget, a black Labrador, and Suzzie a beagle. John once had a boat that he spent many pleasurable hours on, despite the fact that he never learned how to swim.

John was, for a time, an Emergency Medical Technician in Syracuse. He worked for General Motors in Syracuse, until the plant closed down in the early 90’s. He then worked at Turning Stone Casino as a Black jack dealer, and a Roulette wheel operator. Included in John’s future plans, was to go back to casino work when he retired. He applied to the new Seneca Nation Casino in Niagara Falls and they were interested in his skills.

In 1997, John moved to the Lockport area and transferred to the Delphi plant. John was educated and trained in injection molding processes, but for reasons of his own, he remained at this plant in HVAC assembly. John served a little more than 26 years in the GM-Delphi Harrison system and he is very missed by his fellow employees and supervisors.


John loved people, and always had time to listen to someone. He was always ready to lend a helping hand to those he felt needed it. John’s favorite pastimes became the Lockport Cruise nights and taking care of and restoring his beloved 1941 Buick.John was very fond of the elderly and attended several functions at nursing homes, even bringing his 1941 Buick to let the residents sit in and have their picture taken next to. He had an ice cream social for the residents of a local nursing home last summer, 2002, and helped serve them ice cream.

He went back to this same nursing home last Christmas, 2002, dressed as Santa Claus for the residents. He used his Santa Claus suit to surprise the children at a local day care center, and also for the future family members this past Christmas. John liked to plan to bring nursing home residents to the Lockport Cruise nights.

John and I became engaged this past Christmas, 2002. John then began to experience several medical problems. He never complained, even if he did not feel well. He died during surgery on March 17, 2003 of a massive heart attack.

He is survived by me, his fiancé, Linda Forster, daughter Tobi Lyskawa, son Phillip Lyskawa, and two grandchildren, Ronald Alan and Mykala Ann. John was buried in Syracuse.

In loving memory, Linda