John Owen Cloughley

John Cloughley, 64, a long time resident of San Diego, California, passed away December 6, 2017, after a short battle with esophageal cancer. When John came home after long day from fishing I will ask him how many fishes did he catch. He always answered: “I have good news and bad news, the good news, we caught many fishes, the bad news, we had to throw them back to the ocean”. John was born June 25, 1953, in Topeka, Kansas, the youngest child of Bob and Marty Cloughley. Although he was the baby and troublemaker of the family, he grew up to be the tallest, blondest, smartest, best looking, most patient, and funniest of the bunch. He loved fishing, hunting, barbecuing, and tinkering. He was a mentor both at work and in his neighborhood, kind beyond measure. He loved his golf cart so much that he created a group of golf cart owners and entered it in the OB holiday parade. He loved his boat called “Tight Spot”. The name came from the movie O Brother Where Art Thou. John also loved airplanes from an early age. He crashed more remote control airplanes than we can count up. John’s passion for flight culminated in an extensive career in Aerospace (30+ years). His tenure at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. began in 1998. John took great pride in his work there, including 10 years as the Director of Quality Control and Product Support, and ultimately as Technical Director for Engineering Field Support. His friends and colleagues sorely miss the self-proclaimed “Boy from Kansas”. He is survived by his wife, Pnina, their children Sean, Liav and Cher, and dog Brody. His family also includes sister Jan Flanagan (Tom, children Mollie and Mike) and brother Dave (Anne, son Robert). John was an active member of San Diego Yacht Club. Celebration of life for John will be held there on December 28.