John Van Loo passed away on April 23, 2015, leaving a substantial hole in our real estate community. RMLS™ joins his family, friends, fellow REALTORS®, and co-workers at RE/MAX Equity group in mourning his loss. John served as a valued Director on the RMLS™ Board of Directors for eleven years. He joined the board in 1994 for his first term which ended in 1996, and then rejoined in 2004, serving through 2011.

John was the Chairman of the Board in 2008, and gently guided RMLS™ through a difficult year. Our then CEO, Beth Murphy, was out on an extended medical leave through much of the second half of the year and the recession was was making itself felt. Budgets needed to be pared. In all, John served RMLS™ on the Executive Committee for five years from 2005-2009.

Like so many people, I was a personal recipient of his wonderful nature. In the year John was our Board Chairman, I was meeting him for dinner at the end of a long trip to the NAR mid-year meetings in Washington, DC. Arriving at the restaurant to meet him, I foolishly left my wallet in the cab and it sped away. Nothing could have exceeded the kindness and practical help that John and his family provided. My wallet was miraculously returned, but I never forgot that glimpse of John’s true humanity.

Kurt von Wasmuth, our RMLS™ President and CEO, was appointed Acting CEO during John’s chairmanship in 2008. In his words, “John was a dedicated leader that helped guide RMLS™ during a time when we needed him the most. He will be sorely missed.”

A celebration of John Van Loo’s life will be held on Thursday, May 28, 2015, at Abundant Life Church in Happy Valley, OR.