His name -- John Hancock Abbott -- fit his dreams. Fired by zeal to remake the American republic, he drafted a new U.S. Constitution and ran, unsuccessfully, for several high offices while proposing deep if not revolutionary reforms.
His learning matched the scale of his vision. He loved books and spoke half a dozen languages fluently and another half a dozen to some degree.
Mr. Abbott died on Feb. 13 -- a day after his 85th birthday -- at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs hospital. He had suffered from complications due to a fall, lymphoma and other ailments that made his end a stark contrast to his extraordinarily active and varied life.
Having lived on three continents, his family said, Mr. Abbott made the Bay Area home and pursued three careers -- insurance agent, school teacher and real estate broker -- in addition to his political passions.
He volunteered for service in World War II, rising to master sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and he also served in the Korean War, said his son John Jr. of San Leandro. His wife, Rose H. Abbott, said he was an intelligence officer, received training in Japanese and Russian, and served in the U.S. occupation of Japan.
"He was a walking encyclopedia," said his wife, who lived with him in Santa Clara until his hospitalization. "Anything you wanted to know about everything, he'd tell you."
His heart was in politics.
"He ran for Congress, for the Senate, for governor and for the presidency, " said his son.
With a largely one-man campaign, he placed third in the Democratic primary for governor in 1978, with 127,506 votes. Jerry Brown won with 2,567, 067.
Mr. Abbott called for abolishing elected representatives like the governor and president and replacing them with citizen councils that could be called collect by voters. He also wanted to allow citizens to cast votes on legislative bills by calling in and punching in their Social Security numbers along with the number of the bill.
In a field of 13 Democrats in the 1982 gubernatorial primary, he placed sixth in votes cast in San Francisco.
He also worked tirelessly on rewriting the U.S. Constitution and promoting international peace and cooperation, his family members said.
"As a kid, I used to hear him typing late into the night on that noisy typewriter," his son said.
"His philosophy was Jeffersonian," said another son, Lawrence of San Leandro. "He believed it was a time for revolutionary thinking and reform (and) that special interests would pervert the government."
He traveled around the world and once met with Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy, John Abbott said.
He spent part of his youth with a stepfather in Bogota, Colombia, and with an uncle in Europe who owned a newspaper, according to his wife. As a young man, he worked as a banker in New York City.
Mr. Abbott also enjoyed exercise. "He could run up the side of a hill like a billy goat," John Abbott Jr. said. "At age 75, he did push-ups and played tennis."
His wife added that "He used to stand on his head at 80."
And at 82, he was still passionately political.
A "PRESS RELEASE!!!" sent from his Santa Clara home in 2002 called for a mass march on Washington, D.C., to remove President Bush from office in part because Bush "believes that the whole world must embrace the American lifestyle or else Bush will unleash war upon independent nations!!!"
His signature on the document, with finishing flourishes, closely resembles that of his namesake on the Declaration of Independence.
In addition to his sons John and Lawrence and his wife, Mr. Abbott is survived by his first wife, Rose D. Abbott of San Leandro; son Ted of San Leandro; daughters Evelyn Murphy of Hayward, Athena Abbott of Modesto and Cynthia Swanson of Modesto; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Source: Unknown (contributed without attribution)
His learning matched the scale of his vision. He loved books and spoke half a dozen languages fluently and another half a dozen to some degree.
Mr. Abbott died on Feb. 13 -- a day after his 85th birthday -- at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs hospital. He had suffered from complications due to a fall, lymphoma and other ailments that made his end a stark contrast to his extraordinarily active and varied life.
Having lived on three continents, his family said, Mr. Abbott made the Bay Area home and pursued three careers -- insurance agent, school teacher and real estate broker -- in addition to his political passions.
He volunteered for service in World War II, rising to master sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and he also served in the Korean War, said his son John Jr. of San Leandro. His wife, Rose H. Abbott, said he was an intelligence officer, received training in Japanese and Russian, and served in the U.S. occupation of Japan.
"He was a walking encyclopedia," said his wife, who lived with him in Santa Clara until his hospitalization. "Anything you wanted to know about everything, he'd tell you."
His heart was in politics.
"He ran for Congress, for the Senate, for governor and for the presidency, " said his son.
With a largely one-man campaign, he placed third in the Democratic primary for governor in 1978, with 127,506 votes. Jerry Brown won with 2,567, 067.
Mr. Abbott called for abolishing elected representatives like the governor and president and replacing them with citizen councils that could be called collect by voters. He also wanted to allow citizens to cast votes on legislative bills by calling in and punching in their Social Security numbers along with the number of the bill.
In a field of 13 Democrats in the 1982 gubernatorial primary, he placed sixth in votes cast in San Francisco.
He also worked tirelessly on rewriting the U.S. Constitution and promoting international peace and cooperation, his family members said.
"As a kid, I used to hear him typing late into the night on that noisy typewriter," his son said.
"His philosophy was Jeffersonian," said another son, Lawrence of San Leandro. "He believed it was a time for revolutionary thinking and reform (and) that special interests would pervert the government."
He traveled around the world and once met with Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy, John Abbott said.
He spent part of his youth with a stepfather in Bogota, Colombia, and with an uncle in Europe who owned a newspaper, according to his wife. As a young man, he worked as a banker in New York City.
Mr. Abbott also enjoyed exercise. "He could run up the side of a hill like a billy goat," John Abbott Jr. said. "At age 75, he did push-ups and played tennis."
His wife added that "He used to stand on his head at 80."
And at 82, he was still passionately political.
A "PRESS RELEASE!!!" sent from his Santa Clara home in 2002 called for a mass march on Washington, D.C., to remove President Bush from office in part because Bush "believes that the whole world must embrace the American lifestyle or else Bush will unleash war upon independent nations!!!"
His signature on the document, with finishing flourishes, closely resembles that of his namesake on the Declaration of Independence.
In addition to his sons John and Lawrence and his wife, Mr. Abbott is survived by his first wife, Rose D. Abbott of San Leandro; son Ted of San Leandro; daughters Evelyn Murphy of Hayward, Athena Abbott of Modesto and Cynthia Swanson of Modesto; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Source: Unknown (contributed without attribution)
His name -- John Hancock Abbott -- fit his dreams. Fired by zeal to remake the American republic, he drafted a new U.S. Constitution and ran, unsuccessfully, for several high offices while proposing deep if not revolutionary reforms.
His learning matched the scale of his vision. He loved books and spoke half a dozen languages fluently and another half a dozen to some degree.
Mr. Abbott died on Feb. 13 -- a day after his 85th birthday -- at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs hospital. He had suffered from complications due to a fall, lymphoma and other ailments that made his end a stark contrast to his extraordinarily active and varied life.
Having lived on three continents, his family said, Mr. Abbott made the Bay Area home and pursued three careers -- insurance agent, school teacher and real estate broker -- in addition to his political passions.
He volunteered for service in World War II, rising to master sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and he also served in the Korean War, said his son John Jr. of San Leandro. His wife, Rose H. Abbott, said he was an intelligence officer, received training in Japanese and Russian, and served in the U.S. occupation of Japan.
"He was a walking encyclopedia," said his wife, who lived with him in Santa Clara until his hospitalization. "Anything you wanted to know about everything, he'd tell you."
His heart was in politics.
"He ran for Congress, for the Senate, for governor and for the presidency, " said his son.
With a largely one-man campaign, he placed third in the Democratic primary for governor in 1978, with 127,506 votes. Jerry Brown won with 2,567, 067.
Mr. Abbott called for abolishing elected representatives like the governor and president and replacing them with citizen councils that could be called collect by voters. He also wanted to allow citizens to cast votes on legislative bills by calling in and punching in their Social Security numbers along with the number of the bill.
In a field of 13 Democrats in the 1982 gubernatorial primary, he placed sixth in votes cast in San Francisco.
He also worked tirelessly on rewriting the U.S. Constitution and promoting international peace and cooperation, his family members said.
"As a kid, I used to hear him typing late into the night on that noisy typewriter," his son said.
"His philosophy was Jeffersonian," said another son, Lawrence of San Leandro. "He believed it was a time for revolutionary thinking and reform (and) that special interests would pervert the government."
He traveled around the world and once met with Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy, John Abbott said.
He spent part of his youth with a stepfather in Bogota, Colombia, and with an uncle in Europe who owned a newspaper, according to his wife. As a young man, he worked as a banker in New York City.
Mr. Abbott also enjoyed exercise. "He could run up the side of a hill like a billy goat," John Abbott Jr. said. "At age 75, he did push-ups and played tennis."
His wife added that "He used to stand on his head at 80."
And at 82, he was still passionately political.
A "PRESS RELEASE!!!" sent from his Santa Clara home in 2002 called for a mass march on Washington, D.C., to remove President Bush from office in part because Bush "believes that the whole world must embrace the American lifestyle or else Bush will unleash war upon independent nations!!!"
His signature on the document, with finishing flourishes, closely resembles that of his namesake on the Declaration of Independence.
In addition to his sons John and Lawrence and his wife, Mr. Abbott is survived by his first wife, Rose D. Abbott of San Leandro; son Ted of San Leandro; daughters Evelyn Murphy of Hayward, Athena Abbott of Modesto and Cynthia Swanson of Modesto; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Source: Unknown (contributed without attribution)
His learning matched the scale of his vision. He loved books and spoke half a dozen languages fluently and another half a dozen to some degree.
Mr. Abbott died on Feb. 13 -- a day after his 85th birthday -- at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs hospital. He had suffered from complications due to a fall, lymphoma and other ailments that made his end a stark contrast to his extraordinarily active and varied life.
Having lived on three continents, his family said, Mr. Abbott made the Bay Area home and pursued three careers -- insurance agent, school teacher and real estate broker -- in addition to his political passions.
He volunteered for service in World War II, rising to master sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and he also served in the Korean War, said his son John Jr. of San Leandro. His wife, Rose H. Abbott, said he was an intelligence officer, received training in Japanese and Russian, and served in the U.S. occupation of Japan.
"He was a walking encyclopedia," said his wife, who lived with him in Santa Clara until his hospitalization. "Anything you wanted to know about everything, he'd tell you."
His heart was in politics.
"He ran for Congress, for the Senate, for governor and for the presidency, " said his son.
With a largely one-man campaign, he placed third in the Democratic primary for governor in 1978, with 127,506 votes. Jerry Brown won with 2,567, 067.
Mr. Abbott called for abolishing elected representatives like the governor and president and replacing them with citizen councils that could be called collect by voters. He also wanted to allow citizens to cast votes on legislative bills by calling in and punching in their Social Security numbers along with the number of the bill.
In a field of 13 Democrats in the 1982 gubernatorial primary, he placed sixth in votes cast in San Francisco.
He also worked tirelessly on rewriting the U.S. Constitution and promoting international peace and cooperation, his family members said.
"As a kid, I used to hear him typing late into the night on that noisy typewriter," his son said.
"His philosophy was Jeffersonian," said another son, Lawrence of San Leandro. "He believed it was a time for revolutionary thinking and reform (and) that special interests would pervert the government."
He traveled around the world and once met with Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy, John Abbott said.
He spent part of his youth with a stepfather in Bogota, Colombia, and with an uncle in Europe who owned a newspaper, according to his wife. As a young man, he worked as a banker in New York City.
Mr. Abbott also enjoyed exercise. "He could run up the side of a hill like a billy goat," John Abbott Jr. said. "At age 75, he did push-ups and played tennis."
His wife added that "He used to stand on his head at 80."
And at 82, he was still passionately political.
A "PRESS RELEASE!!!" sent from his Santa Clara home in 2002 called for a mass march on Washington, D.C., to remove President Bush from office in part because Bush "believes that the whole world must embrace the American lifestyle or else Bush will unleash war upon independent nations!!!"
His signature on the document, with finishing flourishes, closely resembles that of his namesake on the Declaration of Independence.
In addition to his sons John and Lawrence and his wife, Mr. Abbott is survived by his first wife, Rose D. Abbott of San Leandro; son Ted of San Leandro; daughters Evelyn Murphy of Hayward, Athena Abbott of Modesto and Cynthia Swanson of Modesto; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Source: Unknown (contributed without attribution)
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