Many of you may already know this but John Velandra, Owner of CrossFit Cape Fear, was killed Wed morning. You can read some of the details here.
I met John when he did his level 1 cert many years ago. We ran across each other several times over the years and usually emailed a few times each year. To say John was a “good guy” does the man no justice at all. He LOVED fitness and helping people. His questions to me always involved ways of better reaching and helping his folks. We all need to make a living, John made his by helping people to live better lives. The world was a better place with John in it, it is a lesser place without him.
I’m honestly shocked by how much this has affected me but I think part of it is the last nutrition gig I was supposed to do was at John’s place. When all the shit went down he was super concerned about how I was doing and just turned inside out about everything. HE had the stressful situation but he was concerned about me and my well-being. I did not know John super well but I do know he had a solid moral compass and the only thing that competed with his love of helping people was a love of picking up heavy shit. Those are traits to be emulated if ever there were.
Fair winds Big Man, you will be dearly missed.
Thanks for this Robb. It would have meant a LOT to John. He respected you and thought of you as a friend.
John was TRULY a great man. He was a gentle giant with a deep compassion for those around him. You could not help be attracted to and eventually love fitness the way he did. John also reveled in the triumphs of those around him. He celebrated each victory with you and then couldn’t contain himself and would share with the world. We here at DIF/CFCF are deeply saddened by this tragic loss.
If you need any info please feel free to contact me, I’m his Trainer Manager @ DIF/CFCF. Thanks again, Ali
Ali-
thanks and my condolences to you folks. If there is ANYTHING I can do, let me know. I really liked and respected John a lot. What a terrible loss.
Sorry about your loss. This is another example of why more municipalities need to put limits on police car chases.
Robb,
John’s passing has hit a lot of folks hard… he’s one those people that even if you only met him once, he gave you something.
John thought a lot of you and your work Bro… most of our conversations were about the nutrition side of things. We joked a lot about how we left your cert at Cherry Point and went to a Mexican Restaurant to have our last non Paleo feeding. I attended the cert at his place in Dec, and he was very concerned about all the stuff that went down. He was, as Ali said, a gentle giant… fair, down to earth, spiritual, caring, and loving. Thanks for posting.
Tony-
John was a huge supporter of Crossfit and of my work in the paleo arena. He was one of the first people to email me about doing a cert on the east coast and could not do enough to push the whole thing, both when we were at Cherry Point and when we were supposed to come to Cape Fear. When all the stuff started going down he would check in with me multiple times a day to make sue I was “ok” and to make sure I was fine with him still hosting the seminar with Sears. Always thinking of others, always willing to help.
Some people you may only see once a year, talk to once a month via email, but you feel like there has been no time between your last conversation. I’m still in denial…this has got to be a mistake.
I can tell you this, if John’s death has done anything for me it has made crystal clear the fact you have a very limited time here, that every day is a gift and life is too short to devote time to people you do not love, respect and cherish.
What a horrible story. Our thoughts here go out out to his family and all who knew him.
I’m sorry for your loss Robb. I never knew John but he sounds like a wonderful guy. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and his family…..
Thank you 🙂
John surrounded everyone with love and positivity. He never had a bad word to say about anyone. He made me feel like I was the best massage therapist in the entire world. That’s how he was; he made you feel self worth. I always left his presence floating on happiness and with confidence.
He introduced me to fabulous kind people because that is who flocked to him.
I will always remember his smile and what he looked like with a fresh haircut, hahahaha!
Robb,
Thanks for posting this, I was back in Bragg over the Christmas holiday’s and ran into John training some soldiers on post. John being John, he walked right up to me and hugged my neck like a long lost brother. Bragg is home for me and when I go home for visits I often train over at John’s place and I always have to force John to take money from me. He really had soft spot for soldiers and would do anything he could to help us survive on the battlefield.
We’ll miss you Brother John, RIP
Gn?thi sauton
Michael-
Good to hear from you, other than the circumstances. I’m not sure who John did not have a soft spot for. Just an honest, sincere man.
I hope you are well.
Sorry for the loss of John to the community, but to his family primarily (and extended fitness family). I never had the chance to meet him, but he sounds like he was quite the guy and dedicated to making those around him better in every way possible. Sorry for the loss close to you Robb.
I am very sorry to hear this. May he rest in peace.
Let me know if I can help with anything at all.
Brad
Quote “I can tell you this, if John’s death has done anything for me it has made crystal clear the fact you have a very limited time here, that every day is a gift and life is too short to devote time to people you do not love, respect and cherish.”
Robb, amen to that!
John thought very much of you, Robb. Seeing you post about how John would contact you to check on how you were doing is so classic John! He always put others’ needs before his own, and that selflessness made a huge impact on people.
Thanks for your kind post.
UPDATE: JOHN VELANDRA FUND
As we have had many requests, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the John Velandra Fund. They can be dropped off or mailed to: John Velandra Fund, c/o Manna Church, 5117 Cliffdale Road, Fayetteville, NC, 28314 (910) 867-9151. We thank you for the continued outpouring of support.
Just seeing this blog post now. I did my level 1 cf cert at Johns place and keep up with him afterwards. Kinda weird and spooky I just got a fb reminder that today is his birthday.
John was beyond kind and helped me negotiate the cert despite some odd circumstances. Truly a professional and great person.
John was just a wonderful guy. Still hurts not having him around.