WCOG's John Andrisan Passes

2-1-2015 From L to R:  John Andrisan, Jim Cowling, Ron Fujioka

Yami and I have been communicating back-and-forth about various things (Larry Davis, for one, will be in Southern California for a visit).  I had talked to Yami this morning; then in the afternoon, picked up another voicemail from him, saying something about "Jan Anderson" dying.  I had no idea what he was talking about or who Jan was.  Yami's thick accent muddled the name:  John Andrisan.  I figured out later, when I started getting wind of John's passing through various people and sources, as word began to spread throughout the day.

John's been a mainstay, the bedrock of the Westcoast Origami Guild; a pillar of the larger origami community in Southern California.  He's always been around, since I've been involved.  It's difficult to believe that February 1st at Marti's is the last time I will ever see him.

I'd like to share what Chila wrote to the O-List, regarding John:

It is with deepest regret and heavy heart that I announce that our dear
friend and long-time fellow-folder, John Andrisan, of Orange, CA, has
passed away just recently.

----- John was a good friend and generous folding buddy for many of us. His
interests were many and varied and his knowledge of origami, going back to
the 1970s, maybe even the 1960s, was extensive. He was a very well-known
and well-loved member of the West Coast Origami Guild (WCOG) that met
beginning in the early 80s (I think) and is still alive, but just barely.
He taught every year at the Cal State University Long Beach Origami
Festival. He also taught at many other local events and festivals. He
especially loved to teach Michael LaFosse’s F-14 Tomcat to the kids. He was
the one who sent the emails inviting the “usual suspects” to the local
origami meetings in L.A. and Orange County. Who will do this now?

----- John had a long and interesting career in the US Army, and then
McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft Co, which was later bought (the computer
division, where he worked) by IBM. He was a computer programmer (his degree
was in Math) and later a systems programmer. (I may not have all of this
completely correct, just recalling our many, many phone and email
conversations since I first met him in Mar 2002. Corrections? Please speak
up!)

----- John was a friend and correspondent of David Lister’s They
collaborated on some projects. He and I collaborated on several origami
designs that he came up with. The only one I worked to completion on was
his Triangle Gift Box, which I did finish a diagram for and it was later
published in a British Origami Society (BOS) publication. I also tried to
get a diagram done for his stand for the F-14, but never finished that. He
had other models that he designed, mostly math-based models. He would do
math analysis to see what could be done with a given model, usually basing
it on different starting geometries (from square to hexagon to octagon,
etc). I should go dig thru my piles of diagram papers some time and gather
them together. Oh, I recall he collaborated with Arnold Tubis one time on
the math behind the Masu Box. I think Arnold published a book that included
some of their findings.
----- John will be greatly missed

October 2005
Folded by Michael Sanders
The F14 is created by Michael LaFosse and really flies! A step up from the paper airplanes that are merely concepts of a plane. The stand is created by John Andrisan. This model was first taught to me by John Andrisan.  Photo taken by John.