Obituary of Dr. John Paul LoVecchio

Age 80, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, at Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira, New York. He was born in Chicago, Illinois to John Paul Lane Sr. (Former surname LoVecchio) and Jeanne (Miller) Lane. He attended Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California and was awarded high honors in Greek and Latin, graduating in 1961. He played varsity football, was an active member in the Science Club, Glee Club and Sodality. After graduating from Bellarmine he received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing from San Jose State University in 1968 and followed this with a Masters in Creative Writing while attending San Francisco State University, graduating in1971. His educational journey was completed when he received his PhD in 1985 from University of Iowa in English Modern Letters. His thesis, directed by Dr. Sherman Paul, was about Charles Olson and Buckminster Fuller. During this time, he met Lila Anne Mitchell – one of his speed-reading students and on August 5, 1978, he married the love of his life.

Dr. LoVecchio had many jobs over the years, none of which were as special as those as an educator with a specialty in the teaching of writing. As assistant professor of English at Savannah State University, he was named Instructor of the Year in1998. He served as Director of Freshman Writing at Elmira College, where he was honored with the Douglas Anderson Award in recognition of excellence in administrative leadership in 2005. He had the uncanny ability to reach his students in a deep and positive way, nurturing young students and helping them to grow and flourish into capable and prolific writers.

John loved life to the fullest, focusing on his teaching and staying true to his faith. He found pleasure in simple things; fishing, the great outdoors, reading, writing, and cooking and eating good authentic food. As a self-proclaimed rhetorician, writing was his love language. John credited his Jesuit education with teaching him to reason and argue. John was a gentleman and a scholar. He will be eternally loved by his siblings, Paul Lane and Teda Hudson; his sisters-in-law and brother-in-law, Marian Mitchell and Peggy & David Redman; his former wife, Barbara; their daughters, Maria, Christina, and Francesca; grandchildren, Angelo and Ebony Isaac, and Kristina Matthews; Joseph & Emilia Maxey and Eliott Chillag; great-grandchildren, Angelo Isaac Jr., Ava Isaac, and Braylon Matthews; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. Anne Mitchell, his wife of 44 years, pre-deceased him in 2023.

Family, friends, former students, colleagues and others whose lives John touched are invited to St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, 604 Park Place, Elmira, New York at 11:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, to gather and celebrate the life of Dr. John Paul LoVecchio. A livestream of the Mass will be available through the Facebook page for Most Holy Name of Jesus Parish, https://www.facebook.com/ElmiraCatholic.

“I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen, of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been” -Bilbo Baggins (J.R.R. Tolkien)