John R. Trotman

John Ralph Trotman (“Jack”), 80, of the Lawndale section of Philadelphia, PA, passed away on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, surrounded by family. He is survived by his beloved wife of 53+ years, Katherine C. (Rehiel) Trotman. Loving father of John Ralph Trotman Jr. (Kate) and Sharon Bujcs (Jay). Loving Grandfather of Aiden and Kelsie Bujcs. GrandCatDaddy of Giblet, Ziggy and Spice Trotman. Jack is also survived by his Sister, Anna Records and by his Brothers Robert, Charles and Harry Trotman. He is predeceased by his Sister, Alma Ligato. Jack was born in Williamstown, PA on February 23, 1942, a son of the late Hazel (Whitcomb) and Charles Metzger Trotman. Jack moved with his parents and siblings to the Wissinoming section of Philadelphia when he was four months old. In Philadelphia, he attended James J. Sullivan elementary school and Frankford High School, where he played linebacker on the football team. He was drafted into the U.S. Army on November 18, 1964, served in active duty in Vietnam through March 12,1966, and was Honorably discharged on February 28th, 1970. PFC Jack Trotman was a member of the Army’s First Infantry Division (“The Big Red One”). This the oldest continuously serving division of the Army, having been organized in 1917 during World War I. Upon return from Vietnam, the Big Red One patch on Jack’s shoulder meant that his superior officers would never assign latrine duty or other dirty jobs to him for the remainder of his time with the Army. He attained the Army’s Vietnam Service and Good Conduct medals as well as the M-14 Rifle Sharpshooter and Rifle Marksman awards. Jack is also a proud member of the Imperial Order of the Golden Dragon. He achieved membership by crossing the International Date Line by sea on the way to Vietnam, and, in doing so, losing a complete day from his life. Jack’s black-satin Order of the Golden Dragon jacket puts Rocky Balboa’s tiger jacket to shame (Rocky II). When Jack returned from Vietnam in 1966, a friend helped him get a job with Amtrak as a lineman in the Penn Coach Division. He played on the Electric Traction softball team in the Amtrak league, and won many annual safety awards during his 36 years with the railroad. It is believed that the only two years Jack did not get Amtrak safety awards were as follows: (1) When he took off his hardhat for a brief moment just before a heavy door fell off its hinges and cracked open his forehead; and (2) When a co-worker attempted to ascend a 40-foot ladder while Jack was near the top, splitting the rungs and propelling Jack to the ground as if he were performing the 2nd half of a pole-vault. Luckily Jack only suffered a broken ankle that he initially thought was just a sprain. He met many incredible life-long friends at Amtrak and retired in 2002. Jack was married to his loving wife Katherine “Cass” (Rehiel) on September 14th, 1968. Prior to getting married, they would both meet up with friends at Wick’s Bar in the neighborhood, and travel to the Jersey shore to Margate or other beach towns. Throughout their 53+ year marriage, they enjoyed cruises, casinos, dinners, and various trips, including those to the Poconos (Murphy’s Loft) with their many friends. In recent years, you could expect to see Jack and Cass at Rivers Casino (formerly SugarHouse) playing the 2-cent slots, having dinner, collecting their giveaway gifts or chatting with their children or friends. Jack was a fan of cryptograms, crosswords, jumbles and sudoku puzzles. He would want it pointed out that he only liked the “hard” versions, and his internet history makes it clear that he would seek out higher difficulty challenges after conquering whatever the morning paper had to offer in this regard. Jack was also a huge poker fan. He was following The World Series of poker long before the movie “Rounders” put it on most people’s radar for the first time in 1998. Jack played HORSE and all five of it’s included games, with Texas Hold ‘Em and Omaha poker variants being his favorites. Although quite skilled at tournament poker, he only played small-stakes games, often turning very small buy-ins (under a dollar) into significant winnings, sometimes hundreds of dollars. Jack is a founding member of The Laughing Stock Investment Club. When forming the club in the 1990’s, he described it as a bunch of blue-collar guys from work who want to see what they can do in the stock market. They each put ten dollars a week into a pot for a year, then dove into the market with that pot of money as their initial investment. For several decades, they continued to contribute their weekly $10, buy, sell, present interesting stocks to the group, vote on them, reinvest dividends, celebrate stock splits, and grow their portfolio. The Laughing Stock Investment Club was an ongoing passion and great source of pride for Jack. Jack was a life-long Phillies fan, who watched most games up until the weeks before he passed away. He was an Eagles season ticket holder until the year after the team moved its home games from Franklin Field to Veteran’s Stadium; giving the tickets up because he did not approve of the poor sightlines and long distance the fans were from the field. Jack was also a Flyers fan since the team’s inception in 1967, listening to them play on the radio, watching their away games on network television and viewing the home games via the PRISM antenna he installed on the roof of his home himself, specifically for that purpose. After high school and prior to his military service, Jack worked as an automobile mechanic, for approximately eight years. During this time period, he would also work on, repair and race his Brother Bob’s cars at the Atco Raceway in Atco, NJ. As for other hobbies and interests, Jack played golf, fished and enjoyed snorkeling on vacation. He played in the Ashton Sunday Golf League for several decades and was the B-Fight Champion in the 1990’s. As for snorkeling, Jack bought an underwater camera and made sure that the whole family had their own snorkeling gear for vacations to Florida (he would mail these items in a large box to his friend in Florida in advance of vacations to avoid cumbersome packing and/or luggage fees). He can be seen in many underwater photographs wearing his standard cut-off dungarees, instead of a bathing suit. Throughout his life, Jack received free haircuts from his loving Sister-in-Law, Cecelia McIntosh (Rehiel). Relatives and friends are invited to Jack’s visitation on Wednesday, July 6th from 9:30-11 AM followed by a memorial service at 11:00 AM at the Joseph J. McGoldrick Funeral Home, 507 West Avenue, Jenkintown, PA. Additional parking is available across the street from the funeral home in the parking lot for The Church of the Immaculate Conception. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that those who may be in a position to do so, make a donation for the benefit of Veterans to The American Legion https://mylegion.org/PersonifyEbusiness/Donate, or to a charity of their own choosing. Condolences: www.McGoldrickfh.com