He passed away in 2014, I believe. I still miss him. He was my personal timeshare guru, in addition to being a calm & steady straight shooter on everything having to do with timeshares & timeshare vacationing.
He was HOA-BOD president at a very nice Orlando timeshare that was proudly independent under his leadership & stayed that way until John passed away, when the corporate vultures that had been circling swooped in & took over. He served in a similar capacity at a Cape Cod resort in Massachusetts. He coined the name
Wastegate for the entire WestGate timeshare enterprise, & spelled out all the detailed reasons for his disdain for WestGate right here in the pages of TUG-BBS.
In all his spoken & written communication, he remained temperate & reasoned & respectful & easy to understand, not just on TUG but particularly on the old Yahoo "Group" for owners at Cypress Pointe Resort (Orlando), where he answered all questions, reported all developments, laid out all options, explained all decisions, & remained an invaluable informational resource.
After the timeshare bug bit us at a 2002 Orlando sales tour, we found TUG & made the acquaintance of John Chase strictly by chance & only by internet. That led to our 1st timeshare purchase (resale, naturally), which John facilitated. We remained in touch through TUG-BBS & the Yahoo Cypress Pointe group & E-Mail. After a year or so, I felt like we were becoming friends, not just timeshare acquaintances. Yet we had never met face to face, nor even spoken over the phone.
Eventually
The Chief Of Staff & I arranged to have dinner with John & Joanne Chase when all 4 of us were in Orlando. During the meal,
The Chief Of Staff got a cell phone call from her sister back home. "What are you doing?" the sister said.
"Nothing much,"
The Chief Of Staff said. "Just having dinner with friends."
"
Friends!" the sister said. "You have
friends in Orlando?"
-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.