T h e--P a s s i n g--o f--a--U F O--I c o n
J o h n--P.--T i m m e r m a n
December 7, 1923 – July 12, 2015
By Phyllis Budinger
A UFO icon passed away July 12, 2015 at the age of 92. John Timmerman’s life was richly filled with many accomplishments, leadership roles and interests. His life was mostly spent in the Lima, Ohio area. There was: a beautiful family with four children, a love of music of which he was an accomplished pianist, composer and singer; three years in the US Army during WWII; a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in Sociology; owner of the John P. Timmerman Co.; Vice President of Marketing and Savings Officer of the South Side Savings & Loan; a founding member of many Lima organizations.
Then there are his many contributions in the role of “Ufologist Extraordinaire.” He assisted in the development and growth of a number of Ufology groups (CUFOS, MUFON, LAURA to name a few). From 1980 to 1992 he assembled a traveling UFO display that appeared at malls across the U.S. and Canada. Armed with a cassette recorder, he would interview UFO eyewitnesses who would visit the exhibit and record their testimony. He recorded a total of 1179 cases which were condensed and edited into a book Grass Roots UFOs by professor Michael D. Swords. In my opinion, John really didn’t have to dig hard for these cases. People wanted to tell their experiences. And, you Field Investigators listen up! John told me: “When you go to a restaurant, take a UFO book along and put it in prominent spot on the table. Almost 100% of the time people will come up to you to relate a UFO experience that either they witnessed or a friend or relative witnessed.” I tried this several times, and he was right!
I first met John in 1998 at the founding meeting of Ohio MUFON. Yes he was there! He lost no time in finding out all about me and my interests. For some time I had been searching for soil samples from the famous Delphos, Kansas event to analyze. To my astonishment John said he had some in the carport to his garage. Who knew! He had stored UFO physical evidence there when the CUFOS office closed. He sent them to me within the week. The analysis that I did on them in 1999 turned out to be my introduction/resume into the world of Ufology. Thanks John!
Then there are a few other fond, and some funny remembrances. John would occasionally call me to chat. There was what I dub the famous “bathroom call”. Yes, he called at an inopportune time for me. I was debating whether I should retreat to the bathroom and continue the call. Then from the deep recesses of my house came the very faint sound of our cuckoo clock. John said, “I hear you have a cuckoo clock. I love them!” I thought, “This man has the phenomenal hearing of a barn owl.” So I quickly abandoned the bathroom idea and suffered through the call.
John was there and supportive when I presented at the National MUFON Conference in 2005. That’s where he lost his briefcase. He was rather upset. So Bruce and I set out on a quest to find it. We spent half a day retracing every place he had been. Boy, did he cover a lot of ground! Finally we caught up with him to pass the sad news. The briefcase was nowhere to be found. He then indicated he knew where it was. “I left it at home.”
A wonderful man has left us. John was always a “giver”, never a “taker”. God bless you John and thank you!
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