My friend John Fabrizius passed away in August at the age of 73.

I first met John in the late 1960s when he was a student at Marmion Academy in Aurora and I was in college at Northern Illinois University. He was the younger brother of my great friend Mike Fabrizius, my high school and college classmate.

When I would visit the Fabrizius family farm near the small town of Virgil, I would be warmly greeted by Mike and John and their parents, Marie and Michael. I would also be greeted by the seven other Fabrizius siblings — more about them later.

John, Mike and their four brothers were tall, strapping young men who shared in the chores of running the family’s dairy farm.

One of my favorite memories is playing basketball with the boys in their barn. The games were friendly and filled with l

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