Share your Remembrance
We invite everyone who has been touched to share their stories and remembrances with us as we mourn together.
Photos are also welcome.
In Your Words:
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Morse family and all of Jack's friends during this difficult time.
Submitted By: Margaret Spillett, Communications manager, iSchool
John was a great student in the classroom and even a better person outside of the classroom. He was always the first to volunteer to help at the Carrier Dome and was typically the first one to arrive at work.
John loved to be involved and it certainly wasn't for the money. In fact, months would go by and I would have to beg John to come pick up his paychecks before they weren't valid anymore. In some cases I would have to bring the checks to him so he would take them.
I will miss John but will think of him every time we setup up the dome for a Football or Basketball game.
Submitted By: Jeffrey Rubin, Assistant Professor, iSchool
Jack was an amazing person. He touched the lives of so many people with his humor and intelligence. I traveled with him twice to New Orleans and I have memories from both trips of laughing so hard at whatever came out of Jack's mouth. But he was also very serious and caring when he needed to be. On our trip in Jan 2009, a few of us were stranded in a flood which caused our car to break down. Jack comforted me and offered me his rosary ring to pray with when I got scared.
Everyone really liked Jack, although many people who knew him through the Alibrandi Center didn't know his real name. He had a tendency to introduce himself at Thursday night dinners with different aliases and majors.
I will miss him dearly and I will be praying for him and his family and friends.
Submitted By: Sarah Heins, student, Alibrandi Catholic Center
To Jack's family and friends,
For many of my colleagues at the iSchool who are also parents, this is a doubly sad event. I'd like you to know you are in our hearts and thoughts. Barbara Kwasnik
Submitted By: Barbara Kwasnik, Professor, iSchool at Syracuse
Dear family of John Morse:
Our son, Stephen Terzolo, was a fellow Knight with John in the Alibrandi council and long time friend.
Our hearts and prayers go to you in this time of incomprehensible sadness.
God bless.
Ed and Shelly Terzolo
Submitted By: Ed and Shelly Terzolo, Parents -
We have known John since he was five years old.. he has been part of our extended family... one of those many friends my son would often bring home to dinner ... someone who was not only considered one of our son's best friends but whom we often called our "son"... we loved John's sense of humor, his wit... but most of all his caring attitude .. he gave so much to all those around him... he always gave 100%... John's departure from our world has left a deep void in not only our lives but everyone's life that he has touched if even in some small way....he will be sadly missed by all...
Our deepest condolences to his family...we pray for them in their deepest sorrow....
.... may God hold him in the palm of his hands... RIP ...
Submitted By: Edward & Debra Comeau
Before I graduated last year, I had the pleasure to be in two classes with John. Both of which were ETS classes. Although we weren't close friends, we sat near each other in both classes and shared a few pleasant conversations...we would later come to find out that we also shared the same birthday. One of the clearest memories I have of John was his calm yet very dedicated demeanor. He was always smiling and always had something intriguing interesting to share. I was very saddened to hear of his sudden passing and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends, and all of the Syracuse students and faculty who shared time with him. Looking back, I will always remember John as an open minded and gentle individual, someone who can even now, bring a smile to my face.
Submitted By: Steven Hosking, Syracuse Alum '08, School of Visual and Performing Arts
Even though I only knew John in a few classes we've taken together in IST, I feel like I've known him forever.
John was always full of smiles and positive attitude, he was a great team player and a friend who'll always be remembered.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all his family and friends. RIP John
Submitted By: Abraham Almagrabi, Syracuse Alum 08'
There's a lot you can say about John, and absolutely none of it is bad. I've known John my entire life; we grew up together, played together, went to school together. And, throughout everything he was and still remains my best and most loyal friend. Over the years he even became like a brother to me. His parents, also very wonderful people, did an amazing job raising him and I am going to miss him very much. My heart broke when I heard what happened, I only hope that God keeps him close.
Submitted By: Jason Comeau
I have known John since elementary school, having been good friends with his younger sister in our early years I had the honor of knowing this wonderful kid. I could go months or even a year without seeing him and he would always stop and say hello and have a conversation. A truly good hearted kid who could just make you laugh and smile. John will be missed forever. We love you john and you will always be in my heart.
-Ashlee.
Submitted By: Ashlee Rose Mastrangelo
I first met John in my Jane Austen class. I had seen him around campus before, but I really got to know him during that semester. We went on a trip to England that spring and we became good friends. John was the kind of guy who was so incredibly thoughtful and supportive. He came to all of my art shows and visited me in my studio. He would come to parties and dinners, even if he only knew one or two other people. For my 20th birthday he bought me a book of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories, which turned out to be so fantastic and one of the most surprisingly thoughtful gifts I have ever received. John was the person I talked to about pop culture and really random books and television shows. He had the most eclectic taste. He introduced me to 'Fawlty Towers' and then tried to make me watch High School Musical. He was also a really good listener. For the world to lose such a smart and witty guy is a shame. I always thought that whatever John ended up doing would be quirky and fun and perfectly John. I will miss him forever and my heart goes out to his family and friends. John was a good man.
Submitted By: Heather Williamson
I lived next door to John Morse freshman year, and am a fellow IST major, I would like to send my condolences to his friends and family. He was a kind, happy go lucky person and he had a wonderful wide smile that all of us from Day 4 freshman year and in the ISchool will miss.
Submitted By: Sam Teibel, friend, floormate, classmate
One of the last things he ever said to me: "Jane Austen had more edge in her little finger than Emily Bronte had in her whole body. I no longer trust your judgment!"
John, I'm going to miss you every time I criticize Jane Austen. I'm especially going to miss you when I finally get around to reading "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies."
I'm going to miss you laughing at me when I wear my Twilight shirts/jewelry. I'm going to miss you every time I watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, or sing the Hogwarts Alma Mater. I'm going to miss you whenever anyone mentions Indian boarding schools (which they never do) or Paradise Lost, and any time people are annoyed by my inability to control how much I talk (because you never were).
Rest in Peace, my friend.
Submitted By: Kristin Petrella, student
In January of 2008, John Morse helped rebuild a house in New Orleans for a week and I was alongside him for every minute of it. He was truly a great character and was extremely personable. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and my utmost gratitude for his hard work to help others.
Submitted By: Chris Murray, SU alum '06, Catholic Charities of Onondaga County
I knew John (Jack) through the Alibrandi Catholic Center, where we were introduced almost three years ago. Over time we became friends through activities at the Center and several Katrina relief trips to New Orleans.
When he wanted to be, John was hilariously funny and a joy to be around. That humor and the ongoing jokes between us is the first thing that comes to mind about him. Since I refused for a long time to call him Jack when he decided to make the switch, we agreed in New Orleans one time that I would call him Vladimir instead, which he reminded me to do several times. More recently in New Orleans, last January, we had an extended discussion, while putting up a new cealing for a house, on how the song "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay was really about Tony Blair, or another time on the same trip I suggested that false facts could still be called facts, an idea that John immediately picked up as a favorite jest.
At other times though, more rare at least when I was around but including the last and some of the first times I spoke with him, John would be serious. At such times he revealed himself to be a sweet, compassionate, introspective, very intelligent man with strong opinions and values.
The loss of John leaves a gap in the world which will be impossible to fill with anyone else. Unique does not even begin to describe him. He is greatly missed and he and his family and other friends will be in my prayers indefinitely.
Submitted By: Jason Stoodley, student, Alibrandi Catholic Center
I was an ETS major with John (we took three classes together), traveled to New Orleans with him on the 2008 Katrina trip, went to church and pasta dinners with him weekly for two years, and journeyed to England with him for our Jane Austen class. I am also proud to say that I introduced him to the “vonderful goot game” of Dutch Blitz and shared his love of High School Musical.
Sorry ahead of time if this is either too long or personal, but it’s what I wanted to share.
Dear John,
You always told me that you could never truly know a person, but I am so grateful that I got to know as much of you as I did. Getting to be your friend for the last two and half years has really been one of the most important experiences of my life and has made my college years something worth remembering. You always had this way of making the things I had to do into things I wanted to do. I remember that during the fall of our junior year we would spend every Monday and Wednesday in-between our classes on the fifth floor of the library reading together. The first time when we ran into each other there and found out we both randomly had the same time slot open it was a little bit awkward, but I know at least for myself that it was something I began to look forward to after a few weeks. During those times I was always reading exactly what was assigned for my classes while you tended to explore the library. You really got into these two books on the connotations of the primary and secondary colors and always shared with me the ridiculous connections the author made between the colors and real life. From your random explorations as well as your attitude in general you made me realize that formal schooling really isn’t the most important thing in life and that to get the most out of life you really need to be a little off-kilter. Of course there was the time when your carefree nature caused you to accumulate a few too many library fines making you unable to check out books, but you played by the rules long enough to pay off your fines so that you could go back to your reading habit.
Despite your more laid back attitude, you did extremely well in the classroom and it was apparent that you loved language. I always told you that you were so much better read than I was, even though you insisted otherwise. In reality I was just crazy about doing everything the teacher said while you could really think on your feet and always had a witty or insightful comment to add to class. One day in our senior seminar class with Professor Lyons on Indian boarding schools you proved just how smart you were when you made all of these connections between the book “The Middle Five,” at the end of which one of the Indian students dies, and mainstream Victorian school stories despite not having read these other stories. I actually had read some of them, but I wasn’t able to make all the connections you did. You always seemed to have this deep stockpile of knowledge on which you could rely. Your love of language also made you fun to be around. You were always sharing little sayings you came across in books and in life. During one of our pasta dinners this spring you told us how you had heard the most amazing piece of poetry that day on Marshall Street. The line went, “My eyes be too pretty in the sun for shades.” There was also the time you composed a haiku to try and recruit people to help with cleaning dishes, not because you felt burdened with the responsibility (you actually loved doing the dishes week after week), but because Father Linus asked you to.
In addition to language, two things that were important to your life were your faith and the practice of service. Just being around you really made my own attitude towards these two things change. You were the one who encouraged me to go on the Katrina trip and it was because of you that I helped with things like the sandwich ministry and doing dishes after pasta dinners on a weekly basis. For you service was never about compiling activities to put on a resumé, but was instead about enjoying doing something for someone else. Your attitude made it so that those of us that did the dishes for pasta dinners together were a kind of club. At the end of the year we weren’t happy to be done with our duty, but were instead sad that our time together was over. You also took church extremely seriously and were always very prayerful after receiving the Eucharist. Each Sunday when you would give me the sign of peace I could always see a sincerity in your eyes that wasn’t always present in other peoples’. You were also one of the few people that gave a hand squeeze at the end of the “Our Father” every Sunday. I really enjoyed going to church with you.
You also made me feel loved by supporting me in all that I did. As a runner, I always told you ahead of time if I had a race coming up soon and somehow you always remembered to follow up and ask exactly how I did in the race and find something in my answer to congratulate me on. You were also the only person to actually call me the day I ran the Boston Marathon to wish me luck. You came to my concert band performance this year as well as to my senior illustration show. You went to my Honors Capstone presentation and asked throughout the semester how the project and my graduation school applications were going. As you pointed out to me a few months ago, you definitely get credit for predicting that I’d end up in England next year for graduate school. You also introduced me to Bubble tea (you loved tapioca and tea in all its forms) and took me to my first midnight movie opening (HSM3 – I know it’s cheesy). In short, you were always there for me.
I can only hope that I was as good of a friend to you as you were to me. One of the things I have learned from this whole experience is how important it is for people to tell one another how they truly feel about each other. Because I am the kind of person who rarely tells people that I love them, as my parents can confirm, this is particularly hard for me. It wasn’t until this semester that I could tell you, John, that you were truly the most important person in my life over the last two years. Although I chickened out once and sent you a message instead of actually telling you, I was able to get over it and actually tell you twice that you were one person I could not have done without. If I hadn’t been able to say this, this situation would be even more unbearable than it already is. You were the only person I called every break and one of a small number of people that I planned on never loosing contact with after graduation. I miss and love you so much and only wish you were still here because you made the world a better place.
Submitted By: Meredith Hale
I sent the following to John's parents and want to share it with the rest of you:
As one of John's teachers, I want you to know what a joy he was in the classroom. I'm sure you already know that he was a brilliant writer, had a fine mind and that he was engaged, politically and intellectually, but you might not know how much his fellow students and teachers respected and delighted in him. We will miss him so much.
I wish you comfort, and hope that you may find peace in knowing how great a gift you gave all of us who knew John by raising such a lovely person in your family.
Submitted By: Crystal Bartolovich, Associate Professor of English, Syracuse University
In every English class there are certain students whose papers are so consistently good that the professor will use them as rewards for reading other papers that require a little more work to get through. John was one of those students. He was brilliant, sensitive, and kind, a reliable go-to guy whenever class discussions lagged, and his scholarly contributions always raised the bar. We loved John and will miss him terribly.
Submitted By: Scott Lyons, Assistant Professor of English, Syracuse University
While Jack was a student in our School, I did not know him personally. I am grateful to be able to read here what a wonderful gift he was to this World.
My thoughts and prayers are with Jack and his family.
Submitted By: Roberta Segreti, Assistant to Associate Deans, iSchool
I first got to know John in the Spring 2007 semester when he enrolled in a course on Jane Austen that I was teaching. The class included a trip to Britain over Spring Break, and so I got to know John well during that time. Rarely have I encountered a student who mixed, as John did, intellectual brilliance with modesty, and sardonic wit with amiability and generosity. I have so many memories of John from the trip: seeing him watch the English countryside go by on a long bus-ride, refusing to close his eyes so as not to miss anything while many of his classmates slept; learning from his presentation on servants’ lives in Regency England; watching him slug back two full glasses of the terrible-tasting spring water in the Pump Room in Bath; catching him standing mesmerized by the ceiling of Salisbury Cathedral; swapping book recommendations with him while playing cards; contributing advice to what became his (successful) trip-long quest to buy “a cool new bag”; and hearing him extemporize about which classmates most resembled which characters from Jane Austen’s novels.
John is wearing his floppy khaki fishing hat in all of these memories. What he never knew is that, during the trip, I had begun to refer to him in phone calls home to my wife as Hawkeye, because, like Alan Alda’s appealing Hawkeye character in M*A*S*H, who often sported a similar hat, John had such a multi-faceted sense of humor in addition to his personal warmth and formidable intellectual talents. Reviewing the pictures of John from the trip this past week, I noticed that images of him tend to fall into two categories: candid shots in which he is so totally absorbed in studying some building or monument or educational display that he isn't even aware of the presence of the camera or his classmates, and posed shots where he is hamming it up for the camera with his friends. These two kinds of pictures really capture what John will always be in my memory: a dedicated student and a fun-loving friend, but also a person whose terrific sense of humor I now know sometimes masked turbulent intellectual and emotional depths.
Teaching is a profession in which you get used to seeing students come and go, get used to having people be so much a part of your daily life for a semester or even years before they drift away and you often never hear from them again. I think that this is one reason that I have particularly valued the students who travel with me in my Jane Austen class, for I get to know them in ways that don’t pass from memory easily, and many of them maintain contact with me after graduation. It’s something that makes the process of teaching far less mysterious, which is to say, far less a process of affecting a set of lives and futures that you rarely get to glimpse. John was one of my favorites of all of my students, and so I feel his loss – and the lost glimpses of his future – profoundly. The world seems a smaller place without him.
Submitted By: Mike Goode, Assistant Professor of English, Syracuse University
Finally, after venturing to Beverly, attending Jack’s service, and letting a week go by to reflect, I feel like I can sit down and pour out my reflection in somewhat of a coherent manner. I apologize in advance for how longwinded I’m sure this will get.
Dear Jack,
You always told me I was “ridiculous.” Well, I truly feel that it was that “ridiculousness” that drew us to each other and fostered our friendship these last two and a half years. I may be quirky and slightly insane at times, but it was that eccentricity that I know you loved and it’s what made you special.
We met way back in December of 2006; the end of my first college semester. Even then, taking on far more than I could handle, I was one of the last to leave campus for winter break. Forever stubborn, I lugged my suitcases and bags to the bus stop to avoid giving in to taking a cab. As I made my way closer to the stop, I noticed someone approaching from the opposite direction. And what a strange sight it was. You were carrying two gigantic plastic bins and had plastic bags slung over seemingly every appendage possible. Jack, I thought you were nuts! Then, you selflessly dropped your own cargo and ran up the hill to offer me help. You always, always cared about others before yourself. Well, we rode that Centro bus, completely blocking the aisles and thoroughly vexing the citizens, but chuckling to ourselves. A month later in New Orleans, we pretended we didn’t know each other. Until we were stuck working together on the interior of a house, I belted out Disney tunes, and you couldn’t help but leave your cabinet-making to befriend me. That began a friendship that never once lacked excitement.
I don’t think I ever told you how much I looked forward to our once a week Thursday lunches in Sadler (where Irene always seemed to think your name was Chris). You have an infectious charm to you that made you so easy to talk to. Sometime that spring semester we started to actually hang out. Nights of just sitting in Sadler’s lounge or curled up on my bed were some of the most memorable times. Your brilliance never ceased to amaze me and you forever had a witty comment to interject.
You truly loved and appreciated literature in a way that few can. My own passion for reading was instantly put to shame as I could barely keep up with your vast expanse of knowledge. If I named a book I enjoyed, you’d give me a biography of the author; if I told you about an author, you had the literary criticism ready. You always told me I needed to make time to sit and read (Reading didn’t count for you if it was done on the elliptical) and I promise I will take that to heart. For my 20th birthday, you gave me A Confederacy of Dunces and made sure to point out the statue of the infamous Ignatius J. Reilly. For the next two years, you never got off my case about finishing that book. I laughed at its frivolity, but I see now why you chose it for me. It shows you how to look at life and laugh; to be true to yourself and not care what anyone thinks of you.
You always forced me to make the plans; but you were always there. “Hey Jack, I’m lonely up in Syracuse this summer; come visit me” and after a tumultuous seven hours of driving, there you were. “Hey Jack, come drive to Colgate with me at midnight because it’s snowing and I don’t want to make the trip alone,” and you sat with me for the five hour trek in my tiny little sports car. “Hey Jack, I found this sport called broomball, let’s play” and there you were every game running around on ice in your sneakers. “Hey Jack, I want Eric Carle books,” and you walked with me the two miles to the public library to procure some.” I was spontaneous; You were willing.
You were always there to listen; whether it was my overwhelmed rants, my crazy adventure stories, or details about my life. I always knew that I could talk and you would take the time to lend me your ears (and occasionally some non-sarcastic advice). I found it so fitting that your mom gave me Henry David Thoreau’s book Walking as you forever tried to show me the importance of slowing down and not trying to single-handedly take on the world.
No matter what I said, I could always count on you to make fun of me. You constantly joked and teased and at times I questioned whether you actually liked me. But now I know you did it because you knew that I could handle it and it was your way of showing affection. Again, Jack I needed to learn to laugh at myself (and of course my Polish trolls).
Your faith was inspirational and you were the reason I spent so much time at the Alibrandi Catholic Center. Thursday night pasta dinners, I’ll admit I went to not for the food, but for you. Gosh, I’ll never forget the days we cooked. Making enough eggplant parm and penne pasta with pesto sauce and garlic bread to feed probably fifty! You looked to me for directions and raced around the kitchen to comply. It was truly a delight to let you take the reins and put your pasta puttanesca into effect. Whenever there was free food on campus, I could count on you to be there, from pizza parties to waffle breakfasts to cookies on the quad. And I probably delivered you more food this semester than I ate myself!
When I questioned not venturing to NOLA the second time, you gave me that extra push. I couldn’t seem to sneak out of sandwich ministry or pasta dinners without doing dishes and not feel guilty. You talked me into High School Retreat Ministry and Thanksgiving charity dinner and whatever other functions were taking place. I loved that selflessness about you. You served others not because it was something to put on a resume or because you felt it your duty, but because you truly loved helping others.
And that selfishness certainly carried into your friendships. You always cared about what everyone else was doing. You were there for your friends’ art shows, senior recitals, presentations, and plane flights. Sometimes when I doubted whether you were paying attention, you would ask me about something I had been doing or something so trivial that meant the world to me. Instead of writing your own finals, you took the time to sit with me and go through every line editing mine. While I was abroad, you sent me frequent updates, hilarious links, and messages just to say you were thinking about me. I learned from you the importance of those small gestures to show others you cared.
We shared so much these past two and a half years; bubble teas, books, nights ice skating, dream bars, Dutch Blitz games, movies (and I’m so glad you got me to watch High School Musical), Halloween parties, sledding injuries, high pitched screeching laughs. But those are just the material things. Beyond that, we shared a bond that was deep and heartfelt. I truly considered you a best friend Jack and I wish I had had the chance to tell you how much I love you and how much you touched my life. You mean the world to me and I will never ever forget the memories and lessons you taught me. I know you’re up there making God laugh and still forever making fun of me.
In the words of, your love, Miley Cyrus:
The struggles I'm facing,
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down but
No I'm not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm going to remember most yeah
Just got to keep going
And I,
I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on
I miss you Jack.
Submitted By: Christina Simmons, Alibrandi Catholic Center
John was brought into my life three years ago by a mutual friend, Amanda. I remember him during the first two years we knew each other as a guy who always brought laughter into the room. When my friends and I decided to look for off-campus housing this past year, we asked John to fill a spot in one of the two next-door apartments on Ackerman that we were renting.
This year would not have been the same without John as a constant source of fun and laughter and happiness. I spent a lot of time at his apartment and we had some very good times; in fact, almost all of the best parts of this past year involved John. He and Amanda introduced my boyfriend and I to Dutch Blitz, and the four of us had a tournament going on for much of the year (John and I usually battling it out for last place, thanks to a "rule" he made up to stop my early winning streak). I caught him in that scandal eventually, though it didn't make much of a difference and he was actually beating me the last time we played together with the real rules reinstated. And he ALWAYS beat me at Scrabble! For Halloween, my apartment threw a costume party and he came dressed as a Sparkly Twilight Vampire, which suited him very well.
My only wish is that I had more time to know John. He was such a great guy and I loved spending time with him. Not too long ago he introduced me to the MTV reality show "Taking the Stage" and we were engrossed in the love triangle going on between three of the characters. Even though it was something I would never watch on my own, watching it with John was so much fun because he always had something sarcastic and witty to say about what was going on. He made so many seemingly mundane or uninteresting things fun.
I will miss him dearly. He touched my life and the lives of so many of the people I know and love here. When I look back on my years at SU, John will be one of the fondest memories and parts of the experience. I've learned quite a lot about him in the past week, and all of it brings me back to that one wish: that I could have known him longer. I'm sure many of us feel the same right now, but what I will hold onto is that I did get a chance to know him. And I will hold onto those memories for the rest of my life.
Submitted By: Jocelyn Baird
I never really got to know John well, despite the fact that I knew him for something over a year -- but he was unlike any person I will ever meet again in my entire life. I love intelligent people, and man, was John intelligent. I distinctly remember thinking that when I met him. He was well read and well informed about seemingly everything and he had such an incredible, unique wit. I admired him for it. But what I admired him more for were the things I picked up about him when he wasn't around. He was close to a few of my own close friends, and so I learned a lot about him secondhand. He was so loyal.
John was the kind of friend I aspire to be, the kind I will aspire to be for the rest of my days. He was kind, and he was well-mannered, and he was just a good, good human being. You could tell that about him immediately. It is a tragedy in the worst sense of the word that someone so good would have to leave the world so soon. He will be missed.
Submitted By: Danny Schwartz
Jack was a great person. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. I will remember him for his involvement at the Catholic Center, and for his witty sense of humor. RIP Jack.
Submitted By: Christopher Collins, Student, iSchool