John Chukinas

Anyone looking up to the sky on the afternoon of October 30 may have noticed a contrail of a different sort, an atmospheric track somewhat jagged, irregular, but iridescent with all the colors of the rainbow. The angel with the big smile and the crooked wings, our brother John Robert Chukinas, had finally flown home.
John was born in Richmond, VA on July 29, 1962. Immediate suspicions of trisomy 21 or Down Syndrome would have been dismaying for any family but especially so for a young mother of 24 who had already suffered the blow of losing her beloved twin sister earlier that year. Genetic testing at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia provided confirmation of the diagnosis, counseling as to what might come next, and some time to process what must have seemed a bleak future. Average life expectancy for children born with John’s condition in 1962 was roughly 30 years.

After the tears had dried John’s parents brought him home, rolled up their sleeves, and - to no one’s surprise who knew them - set about with determination to make the best life that they could out of the gift and the challenge they had been given. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes the combined efforts of zealous parents along with many villages, cities, and states to provide for a child like John. Notable stops along the way included the Hatcher Center and summers at Camp Jaycee as a child after moving to Danville; the Melmark Home in suburban Philadelphia from 1973-92 - at the time novel residential school designed for the intellectually disabled; a return to VA to a small scale communal living setting in Salem under the auspices of the VA Baptists; and finally a homecoming to Danville in 2006 made possible by the work of the ACE program and later Support Services of Virginia under Kendra Moser’s leadership which offered and continues now to provide supervised independent living options for Danville’s intellectually disabled. The helpers along John’s way were numerous and we heartily thank them all, but the life John enjoyed would have been unimaginable but for the indefatigable advocacy and sacrifices made on the part of his parents. After taking up the responsibility for his care following the death of his mother in 2012, and in face of the increasing challenges of both declining health and systemic structural failures to meet the need at hand, this is a hard lesson we learned firsthand.

A life like John’s doesn’t lend itself easily to the summation of an obituary: schools attended, career achievements, families started - none of these apply. To be around him, though, was to glimpse the pure and simple joy of existence: joy in meeting new people; pets and animals of every kind, particularly bird watching; endless Bonanza and Andy Griffith reruns; extravagant dressing; yoga practice; favorite foods - apple sauce, ice cream and cake; church attendance and ritual; and music of all kinds but especially choral singing. Despite his halting gait and ungainly wings there was a light in John’s eyes, a special luminosity that once it shone on you allowed you into his charmed circle forever and made you a better person for it. That joyful light never dimmed, even at the end when he deserved much, much better, and can still be seen today in the sky for those who know where to look.

John was preceded in death by his parents, G. Warren Chukinas and Martha Jordan Chukinas. He is survived by his brother George Chukinas (wife Julia) of Bala Cynwyd, PA and sister Mary Chukinas LaGrone (husband Bob) of Brentwood, TN, as well as beloved uncles and aunts, many adored cousins near and far, sweet nieces and nephews and a newly born great nephew.

A service will be held graveside a Mt. View cemetery, Danville, VA on December 16, 2023 at 11 A.M. Immediately thereafter, any friends and family are invited to gather and reminisce at West Main Baptist Church’s Fellowship Hall or as otherwise directed once there. In lieu of flowers the family requests that any memorials be made in John’s name to local mental health organizations dedicated to the well -being of the intellectually disabled.