Friday afternoon, we lost the nicest guy I have ever known – and one of the most respected and successful men in Gloucester. 

Johnny Orlando built a home for himself, his wife Sue, and three generations of children – literally with his own hands – on his lot on Perriwinkle Lane just above the flats where he kept his ten pots and the skiff he used to get to his boat, “Orlando’s Magic.” 

Johnny graduated from Gloucester High School in 1959, two years ahead of Susan Favalora, and everyone knew they were made for each other.  They married and have been Gloucester’s “Sue and Johnny” ever since.  They raised two sons and three grandchildren; then postponed their retirement plans to tend to their great-granddaughter so her mother could finish her education.

Although my wife, Maggie, went to school with Sue and Johnny, I didn’t know him well until I was recovering from cancer while at the same time trying to make our house on Chapel Street livable.  Johnny just said, “Don’t worry about it” – and quietly took over responsibility for everything that needed to be done.  He even began calling in the morning to get me out of bed and out to the Boulevard for the daily walks he knew would hasten my recovery.  That’s the way Johnny was all his life – putting the needs of others first.

Johnny had a talent with carpentry, and applied it to helping build and enhance homes around Cape Ann, and then to teaching others how to deliver quality work as the high school’s shop teacher.  I couldn’t spend more than a few hours with Johnny around town without hearing, “Hey Mr. Orlando” from one of his former students who were now earning their own living and raising their own families.

When Johnny agreed to help me build my deck I was happy and honored.  He’s a great carpenter and he could look at my pile of lumber and know it would become a deck if we just kept working at it.  He taught me a lot, and I can still hear his response every time I asked him how my work looked – “Good enough for who it’s for!”  I’m proud to be a small part of “Orlando Brothers and Associates.”

Johnny loved fishing and would fish Ipswich Bay with his son Joe every day he could.  But he loved helping kids fish even more.  Last summer he took my grandkids out in the harbor – first around Ten Pound Island to catch some mackerel for bait, then over to Hammond Castle to catch stripers – and Johnny was perfectly content, without a rod of his own, watching the kids having fun.  He loved them and was loved greatly in return.

Johnny was always watching for fish.  Many mornings after walking with his brother Lenny on the Boulevard, they would have coffee at McDonalds then go home by way of Rocky Neck, Long Beach, then Pebble Beach, looking for the gulls that signaled bait fish in the water.

Johnny had a ten-trap license, and for years he just put them in the river behind his house.  When Sue no longer let him go out alone, he talked Lenny into getting his own ten traps and the two of them could be seen a couple of times a week ducking under the cut bridge on their way to their traps in the harbor. 

When he actually caught legal lobsters – and Johnny was a stickler with his measurements – he saved them until he could give them away to his granddaughter or friends.  He knew he could save money by just buying them at Market Basket, but then he wouldn’t have an excuse to be out on the water.

Johnny’s vices were few – playing the slots at Lucky Seven or Foxwoods, a Captains or two at the Elks, a drive to North Conway, or just relaxing in the pool at Frenchman’s Reef in St. Thomas.  Mostly he loved to pamper Sue, help his friends and family, and enjoy summers in Gloucester.  A ride home with Johnny always included detours up Portagee Hill, past the Cut, or along the Back Shore, with Johnny commenting on how lucky he was to live in such a wonderful place.

Johnny was famous for having an eye for bargains, and he and Sue or his brother Lenny would scour Christmas Tree Shop for the triple markdown items.  Like many of their generation in Gloucester, Sue and Johnny were generous to a fault.  They never failed to remember birthdays and anniversaries with lavishly wrapped perfect gifts. Typical of their thoughtfulness, we arrived in Gloucester last summer to a dozen balloons waving from our front porch and a fully stocked refrigerator.

Spending time with Johnny – whether hauling traps, building the deck, walking the Boulevard, or chasing gulls – was, well, comfortable.  I cannot recall a harsh word, nasty comment, or angry expression in all our conversations over the many years we have been friends.  He’s the nicest guy I have ever known, my best friend; and I will miss him greatly.

Dave Sullivan
23 Chapel St
Gloucester