John Reid Gainey Jr. born in Dallas, Texas on May 30, 1986, passed away on December 15, 2022 in Orange County, California at the age of 36.  John, also known as Reid to his family and Johnny Love/Johnny Oaks to his friends, was preceded in death by his father, John Reid Gainey Sr. on June 6, 1993.  He leaves to cherish his memories his mother, Colleen (Henson) Armstrong and husband, Keith Armstrong; sister Summer Fairbanks and husband Jon; brother Brandon Gainey and partner Michelle; extended family Corey Armstrong and wife Kendra; Michaela Armstrong and Jacob; many others and many friends.  He recently expressed of his mother that he was thankful for her and she was always there for him with love and support.  When he was recently seeking peace and prayer, her prayers were very valuable to him.  He would often talk about the deep care he had for his family and the strong bond.  Summer Fairbanks (sister), he recalled looked out for him and his younger brother, Brandon, who he always wanted to mentor and protect.  Also close and important people in his life were his stepfather, Keith Armstrong, who he spent time working with and learning from and his grandparents Doyle and Frances Henson, Johnny would often recount stories of times fishing with his grandpa (Papa) and learning from him how to use his hands and get things done.

Johnny had a passion for nature, climbing, building, and exploring.  Growing up in Texas, this translated into his pursuit of a bachelor's degree at UC Davis in Landscape Architecture graduating in 2011 with honors.  The Arboretum and Public Garden featured Johnny's work his senior year choosing only him and one other student's project to be featured that year.  John created " Crested Oak" as his senior project from a 200-year-old valley oak that had died in the arboretum: "My challenge as an artist was to break the structure of the tree to reveal the character of the basic elements within and to work with these elements until they spoke and told their story," Gainey wrote in his artist's statement.  This piece is still there at UC Davis and available for viewing.  Johnny recently took his girlfriend there in July to see it.

His passion for landscape architecture brought him to work at a prestigious firm in San Francisco.  This city and especially his friends and community there held a special place in his heart.  Johnny was always interested in meeting new people, hearing their stories, and understanding what they were passionate about.  He had endless ideas for things that could be created and ways things could be developed and different perspectives one could take.  You could find him on sunny summer afternoons at the  park with his tortoise, Little Foot.  While in San Francisco, he also developed his passion for creation at festivals that would combine his love of music, dancing, connecting, and art.  He would volunteer his time and creativity to building installations that others could enjoy and be inspired by.  Johnny left corporate life to more fully  pursue his passions working in building and other creative projects first in Montecito and then on a property outside of Nevada City where he found a lot of peace and inspiration.

Johnny was truly an artist and creator at heart.  He was always a hard worker and if you had a project that needed to be completed or just someone to help you move he was a true friend and achiever.  He had a hussle about him and a way of understanding what needed to happen to get something done.  It saddens us to think of all the unrealized ideas he was working on.  We also know he really had a zest for life and wasn't afraid to take risks.  He had traveled around the world, lived in many  places, and really experienced life on his own terms.

He had spent the last part of his life living in Orange County, CA – a fresh start in a sunny place!  While looking for a place he could settle down and save money to make a move to Central America with his girlfriend, Karli Krueger, where they planned to start a family and pursue some future opportunities.  He was eating well and working to be the best version of himself, he was thinking more about his future.  A special expression of love that Johnny shared with Karli and his mother was giving the American Sign Language sign for "I love you" as they said goodbye.

Some of the most notable qualities about Johnny was how he made you feel when you were around him.  He was always quick with a joke and a smile and wanted to make people around him feel special.  He could see the uniqueness in others.  He was silly, charming, thoughtful, and caring.  He enjoyed a good philosophical discussion about life which he surely would eventually pull you into.  He was always working on trying to make himself a better man, a better human, family member, and friend.  He really cared about the people in his life.

He truly had so many people who cared for him deeply and wanted to see him thrive.  He was resilient, vibrant, spirited, and almost seemingly invincible so it is hard to really accept that he's not with us anymore.  He was artistic , charismatic and bright.  We find comfort in knowing that he is in a better place with Jesus, maybe looking down on us smiling, knowing that the grieving will pass for us all as he has been promoted to paradise where he longs for us all to join him.  Let us celebrate his life and home going as we will all deeply miss him and love him.

"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18