John Sydney Vaughan

John Sydney Vaughan
1943 - 2017
Minster, Kent, UK

Survived by his wife Judy Vaughan; children Gareth Vaughan and Jono Vaughan; grandchildren Cate and Claire; daughters-in-law Vanessa Vaughan and Sarah Brown; and sisters Pam Lawson and Brenda Brody.

John went to sea at 15 as a junior cabin boy in the Royal Merchant Navy; later he became a steward, and then a chef. Upon returning to the Isle of Sheppey at 21, he went to work on the local buses. He met Judy while working as a conductor on the Maidstone and District line. Six weeks later, on December 12th, 1965 he proposed to Judy at the Tower of London and 18 months later they married on April 1, 1967.

After his marriage he went to work for Prudential Insurance and later moved into telecommunications, where he would stay for the rest of his career. His first position was with Plessey Telecommunications. After a brief period with Pitney Bowes, he returned to Plessey to work in the international department. In 1985 he was offered a one-year position in the USA with Plessey, which was extended and he ultimately made Florida his home. He remained with the company as it changed names from Plessey to Stromberg Carlson and to Siemens. He worked all over the world, particularly in South and Central America, bringing telecommunications to many communities that previously had none.

He retired at 61.

After retirement he filled his time building boats, reading large quantities of books, cooking, and spending time with his family.

Judy and John had their 50th anniversary in 2017, which they celebrated with their family at Antonio's in Winter Park.

John passed on September 24th, 2017