This website is dedicated to our late friend, John Paul Puglisi (DC 98), who tragically passed away in February 2006. We will always remember his honesty, integrity, kindness, and friendship at Yale.

If you would like to contribute a memory, please email me at yamada ** cam.cornell.edu




A lot of my memories of John Paul have to do with Project Blythe, the summer we along with Leslie, Laurie, Val, Angela, Cat, Jenny blazed into Leslie's hometown. After JD left, John Paul became the lone male representative (he was reading 'I kissed dating good-bye' that summer) on the team. I remember him and Val teaching us all how to swing dance and coaching a group of young people to produce an impressive lip-sync rendition of Grease. Lots of different discussions happened that summer, conflict resolution too. I remember having to work out stuff with John Paul, can't remember now just what the conflict was, only that we had to work to resolve it. In many ways, it was a blissful and deeply meaningful summer - hot desert weather, a team with a mission and a community ready to welcome us.

(Mao-Mei Liu '99)

The night Todd broke the news to me about John Paul I didn't have much of an initial reaction. My wife Nayiri and I finished dinner, and then after we returned from a movie the stories (and tears) started pouring out. I felt compelled to tell Nayiri how, during our post-college year at University Place, we called John Paul "Mr. Naked" because of his penchant for strolling around our curtainless apt in just his boxers. He also watched so many darn movies, and at night wrapped himself in his blanket so tightly Todd took to calling it "the womb." I also felt compelled to tell Nayiri about how compassionate a heart he had, so much of one that it seemed to overwhelm him sometimes. I told her about how he took over providing a weekly lunch for the homeless on the New Haven Green in 1999, because so many of the regular meal providers closed shop during the summer. For those of you who may not know, he got pretty buff in the post-college years, complained nonstop about New Haven then stayed two years longer than the rest of us, went to Arizona just because he wanted more sun, and took up acting following his return to Indiana.

This past weekend I was in Dallas visiting my grandmother and memories popped up again. Our plane went through Memphis, which brought up the question "Have you ever been to Memphis?" Well, yes, with John Paul. In the summer of 1998 (following Project Blythe) we drove cross-country together...the only trip to date for me, but one to be repeated a couple times by JP. I remember taking turns crossing the century mark during a late night drive across New Mexico, then stopping at 1:30am to walk through a giant stations of the cross monument in the panhandle of Texas. I remember talking about the pacificist vs. "justified violence" moral dilemna at least once a day (JP was big on that one). I remember stopping for two nights at Todd's house in Oklahoma where we played 3-man baseball with our shirts off just because it seemed like a manly young male thing to do (JP was big on that stuff, too). I remember how he went with me on a 3 hour detour to put flowers on my grandma's grave in Arkansas...and how much he cracked up at the accent of a toothless native who asked us if we were buying flowers for "some sweet young thang." And, of course, Memphis where we visited the Graceland museum and let our mutual geekdom hang out by walking a "to-scale" model of the Mississippi River. Memphis was the favorite stop of our trip. Except for maybe the Krispy Kreme donuts we picked up in Nashville and housed before we had crossed the Kentucky border.

Juan Pablo, I miss you. But I have strong hope of seeing you again someday. If you can tell what going on down here from where you are, just don't give me too hard a time about my missteps, ok?

(James Bell '98)

One thing I remember that I shared with his dad, was how JP faithfully went to almost every YCF noontime prayer meeting during our junior year. We met in some woodpaneled room in a Silliman tower. oftentimes, it would only be me and JP present. He had such a heart to pray for a wide variety of concerns: world leaders, specific nations, global warming---and individual concerns! His prayers were always earnest and his heart so big--it still makes me smile when I think about those times of quiet.

AND he was really good at Shiatsu massage! :)

(Melissa Ko)

I don't know or recall my first meeting with John Paul. I know, though, that it occurred sometime during the fall of 1996, my freshman year. Me, JD, Brian and John Paul (there may have been others) agreed to start an accountability group. After a while, we realized that 4 people was rather large, and we decided to have 2 groups. One group was me and JP. We met on a regular basis for my 4 years at Yale and over time our meetings became less about accountability and more about spending time with each other in friendship (to be honest, we ended up talking way too much about girls). John Paul became one of my closest friends at Yale and I was always grateful for the advice he gave on handling the expectations and demands of Yale (that Yalies so easily got sucked into). Another memory of JP was his compassion. I specifically remember him confessing one time, in private, that (over a period of time) he had given away several hundred dollars to a homeless man in New Haven, wondering if there was anything else he could do for him; he didn't tell me to feel proud or to feel paternalistic, as if it were some sort of obligation privileged students at Yale had to do. Instead he told me in a way that showed not only his humility but also his caring for strangers and friends alike.

After he graduated, JP stayed in New Haven; his decision was great news for me, because it enabled us to meet for meals. He was always encouraging, and where an honest answer was needed, he often gave one. I will always remember that calm steady warmth that he always exuded, and of course that elegant wool coat that he wore during those winter months. (As James wrote in his email, the memories do keep cropping up, and I have so many of them.)

I saw him last in January 2002 in Phoenix. He was telling me about the new directions that were opening up in his life. I was really excited for him, especially since he was so excited about them. Based on my friendship with him, I know that he lived a full life, touching many people on his 30 years here on earth. I am honored that he shared part of his life with us.

CS Lewis once wrote 'a friend always lets you in, never lets you down.' JP, you fit that profile so well. I will always miss you!!! With much love.

(Yujiro Richard Yamada '00)