In Remembrance of John Charles McLaughlin - Teammate, Friend, Father, and Husband.
On Saturday, February 22 we lost a teammate and family member while doing one of the things John Mclaughlin loved most, cycling. John was a fierce competitor, a great friend, a devoted father, and a loving husband.
His 65th birthday last year exemplified John’s love for his friends and family. His wife Marilyn gathered his friends and two daughters for a surprise birthday party. The next day he celebrated a different way with a 100-mile birthday ride from Anaheim to San Diego with his buddies from the LA Tri Club. He loved his family and his triathlon and cycling community and was a proud member of the LA Tri Club, joining in 2004 as member #2666, always wearing his kit in a race and hat around town. John loved being on the pavement just as much as he loved being in the mountains. He was a staunch competitor, training long and pushing hard to get on the podium. John loved going fast- especially downhill, and was up for a ride anytime, anywhere and just about with anybody, though especially with his closest friends. He was loyal as the day was long. As a mathematician by training, he loved his Strava stats. These stats exemplified John’s passion for triathlon, and especially cycling. In 2023, John was active for 221 days, was training and racing for 441 hours, cycled 4,081 miles with 296,233 feet in elevation as found on his Strava page. In 2021, John was one of the select few Club members who finished the 50/50 Challenge.
John supported all of his friends any way he could- whether it was a tire change on the road, supporting their favorite cause through a fundraiser, or most recently, sifting through ash looking for his friend’s personal items lost to the Palisades or Altadena Fires. He was always there for us. Now it is time for us to be there for John and his family.
We- his friends from PCH 101 and teammates of LA Tri Club - want to raise funds to ensure Hana and Talia can have the wedding John would have wanted this June and next April respectively. John had also been out of work for many months from his job, so John and Marilyn’s financial reserves have been depleted. This fundraiser will allow Marilyn to worry less during this period of uncertainty and heartache - and additionally will provide for their daughters as John would have done.
GoFundMe for John’s Family
(Please note, you can specify the amount of the tip you would like to leave, if any)
We will miss you John and your confident and caring smile. Please help in any way you can with a one-time gift or if you are able to, a re-occurring monthly gift to help through this GoFundMe.
