John Frederick Emmel

August 10, 1944 - April 29, 2022

John Emmel left us on April 29, 2022, on his terms: peacefully, quietly, instantly ~ among the comforts of his home, and in the arms of his loving bride of 52 years. Born on August 10, 1944, John grew up in Los Angeles, CA. His parents, Edward and Ardyce Emmel, met on an outing sponsored by the Sierra Club which encouraged an interest in nature, including taking John and his brother, Tom, on many camping trips to all the national parks in the western U.S. At age 5, at the suggestion of their father, John and Tom, age 8, started collecting butterflies on all their family excursions ~ thus began the lifelong passion they shared. Ardyce further encouraged their interests by driving them to entomological society meetings at Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. John’s parents, a den mother and scout master, respectively, were very involved with the scouting program, as their sons became Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Explorer Scouts, and Eagle Scouts. The importance of education was tantamount to John. Curiosity, learning, and pursuing more led to his being invited to attend Stanford University from 1962 to 1967 where he earned a B.A. in Biology. John went on to UCSF School of Medicine where he received his M.D. in 1971 and then he completed an internship in Medicine at Children’s Hospital in San Francisco. In 1972, John and Phyllis moved to Santa Monica for John to undertake a three year residency in Dermatology at Wadsworth VA Hospital/UCLA which he completed in 1975. His undergraduate education was enriched with a year-long Stanford program in Italy which was followed by a summer in Chiapas, Mexico, studying with an ethnobotanist documenting native tribal knowledge of medicinal plants. 1973 allowed him to travel with his bride, along with his brother and 8 graduate students exploring the Amazon rainforests of Ecuador and visiting most of the Galapagos Islands. His thirst for knowledge provided him opportunities to participate in a variety of programs and competitions. One of his significant high school achievements in 1962 was being one of the 40 winners in the prestigious National Westinghouse Science Talent Search which resulted in his personal meeting with President John F. Kennedy. Reading, researching, and exploring naturally led to the sharing of this knowledge through extensive writing. Beginning in 1962, John began publishing research articles in various peer reviewed scientific journals. Many of them were a collaboration with his brother and the more they learned, the more they wrote, and by the turn of the century, John had about 80 of his articles in print. In 1973 John and Tom published THE BUTTERFLIES of Southern California which was the definitive guide to the various species of butterflies found in our corner of the world and is still in use today. John’s second year of medical school required him to take a Saturday morning course in Epidemiology where John met another ‘course’ of interest ~ naive Phyllis Pasquarelli newly arrived from New England. Both pursued more than their studies and married two years later on December 20, 1970, and then thoroughly enjoyed their adventures in San Francisco as newlyweds. In 1975, they moved to Hemet where John joined the private practice of Dr. Dan Straub. This led to a nearly 40 year partnership which provided special care for the community. Their care along with the professional cooperation of Dr. Steve Hegedus allowed the three of them to assist each other and become life-long friends. In 2004, Dr. Steve Oberemok joined the practice until John’s retirement in 2012. John loved his patients ~ missing his staff and patients made it difficult to walk away, yet they never left his heart. More than his education and his practice, John’s family was the center of his world. Marrying Phyllis gave him Phyllis Senior and Mike Pasquarelli ~ not just in-laws, truly parents who loved him as their son. Joy came to John in many ways, yet nothing measured up to the joy of his children, Travis and Alexis. Watching them grow up, participate in various activities, develop their own interests, succeed in various pursuits, travel together doing unique activities, sharing in the ups and downs of growing up and moving on gave him so many reasons to be proud of the adults they have become. A family highlight was Alexis’ marriage to Ron Palmeri in 2012. Having experienced the gratification of raising his children, the last seven years were filled with the light and energy of his grandchildren ~ Harlowe and Henry. Having these two little cherubs around filled him with love abounding. Harlowe’s curiosity of the natural world was definitely influenced by John’s desire and ability to pass on the excitement of observing Mother Nature’s gifts even if it was just reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Henry also benefited from John’s influence. Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny definitely provided the lap time John so enjoyed. Knowing John and Phyllis allowed many to witness a LOVE STORY that most people dream about ~ a love story that started quickly and was felt deeply for 54 years ~ a connection which many saw as John and Phyllis worked together on a crossword puzzle, walked hand-in-hand the past few years, traveled with Travis and Alexis (summers in New England with the Haggerty and Day families, Stanford Sierra summer camp, Mexico Monarchs with the Deschners), shared meals with friends, sipping wine while watching the sunset, and all the various adventures which drew so many into their personal circle as true friends. The move to Hemet allowed the Emmel's to add to the "family of choice". The Denes' and McGee's and their children became fast and lasting friends. The decades of Hemet living provided opportunities to meet and include many more friends, so numerous that the list is long and all are treasured. You know who you are. Especially meaningful to John were the family celebrations and holidays with Mom (Phyllis Sr.) and Dad (Mike-deceased), brothers-in-law (Michael and Bill), sister-in-law (Nancy), and his niece (Heather/Kole/their four children), nephew (Mike), and his brother (Tom - deceased May, 2018). John was a private man yet also a man of service. He did not belong to clubs just to be a member. He believed in doing the work, as giving back was important to him. His youth was spent in Scouts ~ a family activity ~ with parents as leaders and his brother as a companion. John returned this nurturing to the youth of Hemet by being a scoutmaster. He provided good guidance and was a prolific fundraiser. His decades as a member with the Kiwanis Club provided community camaraderie and allowed him the opportunity to chair the Blood Bank program. The years Travis and Alexis were in school, John was an avid supporter of various scholastic, music, and athletic programs. Studying butterflies was not just a hobby to John; it was about the science of Lepidopterology ~ an avocation which he pursued to the highest professional level. This was his second career which required him to know biology, botany in depth, photography, geography, topographical map reading, and geology. John’s ‘free time’ was spent developing techniques for rearing various species of butterflies. For this he was maintaining more than 400 pots of native foodplants which are very specific to individual butterflies. The goal was always to learn more about the life history of each species and subspecies and to understand and untangle the complex relationships between the life cycles of the various butterflies, their interactions with their habitat, and the impacts of climate change and human interaction on their future existence. Ask anyone who knew John Emmel what kind of man he was and similar responses would be: he was a gentle man who genuinely cared about people. Many were inspired by his intelligence, others benefited from his vast knowledge, many were part of his adventures and travels, some enjoyed his subtle humor, yet perhaps his best quality which touched everyone was his kindness. John will always be with us. Rising to meet the capricious challenges he faced once diagnosed with Parkinson’s, his concern continued to be focused for the welfare of others. Our family stood strong, surrounded John and each other with love and support, and will maintain the positive message that John lived by: being kind, patient, humble, and loving. He has gone off on his eternal collecting trip ~ joining his brother, Tom, and his parents ~ hiking the hills, checking the habitat, identifying the butterflies ~ he is at peace. In lieu of flowers and to support John's passion, donations can be made to the John F. Emmel, M.D. Lepidoptera Fund at McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity Florida Museum of Natural History: PO Box 112710, Gainesville, FL 32611 Donations may be made through this link: UFgive.to/JohnFEmmelMDFund ***To view the service via livestream, please visit the link below.**** LINK: https://youtu.be/xHEFx_JbbAk