About Cody St. John
At 10:00 am Easter Sunday 2007, 29 year-old Dean “Cody” St. John Jr. died from injuries sustained from a collision with a logging truck on highway 127 in Colorado near the Wyoming border.
St. John was raised in Pasadena from 1990-1997 after moving from his father’s farm in Upstate New York with his sister and mother. Cody St. John is survived by his mother, Reading Specialist for Anne Arundel Co. Public Schools, Candida St. John; father, Dean St. John, Cortland, NY; and sister, Corinne St. John.
Cody graduated from Chesapeake High School in 1995 where he was an All County linebacker. Cody’s passion for the outdoors and snowboarding led him away from Frostburg State University where he attended ‘95-‘96 to Summit County, Colorado in 1997 with friends Derek Durivage and Jason Pinter. The following year Matt Fordyce, Keith Hare and Brandon Holmes joined Cody in Colorado.
Cody started a career of service in 03′-04′ when he was selected as a member of the Steamboat Springs Ski Patrol. That same year Cody returned to Maryland to obtain his Emergency Medical Technician certification and started fulfilling his nursing school prerequisites at Colorado Mountain College. The next year, in ’05-’06, Cody was named Colorado Ski Patroller of the Year for the State of Colorado—-the first snowboarder and youngest person to ever receive this prestigious honor. At the time of his death, Cody was traveling to an orientation at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, where he had been accepted into the Nursing Program.
Cody continued giving of himself even after his death: Five fortunate individuals received Easter gifts of Cody’s donated organs. His heart, liver, two kidneys and pancreas will all be used to sustain life. Marc George, St. John’s stepfather for the past 11 years, said Cody is one of very few organ donors ( <20 ) in Colorado so far this year.
On April 11, 2007 the annual “All State” Colorado Ski Patrollers Competition and Celebration was dedicated to the life of Cody St. John.
Quotes:
“I’ve patrolled for 26 years and I’d rank him in the top 5% I’ve ever seen or worked with. He’s polite, very capable, has all the skills and is incredibly mature.” –John Konke, Steamboat patrol director
“Words are not powerful enough to describe the light that Cody shines on the people who are blessed enough to know him. His love, integrity, and positive, inspirational influence cannot be expressed in words. We all aspire to be more like Cody.”
-Matt Fordyce, 15-year friend of Cody St. John
“It was love at first sight — his smile, his eyes, his personality … everything about him instantly had me from the time that I met him… His smile just swept me right off my feet.”–Katrene Lewis, Cody St. John’s girlfriend of one year.
“Everybody knows about buying your girlfriend flowers on Valentine’s Day, but Cody would buy his landlady flowers when she was sick. He would go that extra mile for people. He really did touch lives.” -Ryan Thompson, room mate
“Any patient he had, he treated them like they were the most important person to him. You could hear it in his voice on the radio. Even if it was a serious situation, Cody’s voice was always calm. He never did less than his best.” -Quint Friesell, fellow ski patroller