Kovach, John Michael

I met John Michael Kovach in San Francisco, but got to know him better after I ran into him again at the 1220 bar in Walnut Creek. We had many conversations and he assisted me on two musical projects that I was working on. One was in transcibing the musical notation of a Sephardic Jewish folksong that I recorded when a friend of mine sang it to me. This musical score was eventually published in a Spanish language newspaper. John also played the piano for me to record some old Central American melodies/songs. John was interested in many subjects. I was given probably all of his foreign language books. We would sometimes converse in Spanish. John was also very familiar with the situation of the gay Cubans that arrived in San Francisco after many Cubans left Cuba by way of the port of Mariel. Those Cubans were thus known as Marielitos. John was an outgoing person, he was not in any way reserved and he had many friends. He was a member of a gay potluck group that would meet monthly in different homes in Central and Eastern Contra Costa County (which you can read about in an article concerning history published in www.eastbayvoice.org ). John is surely missed by his family and friends, but we will always remember him and be inspired by his personality, interests, and work.

John was a member of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus from October, 1990 until January, 1991 for a total of 2 concert seasons. He sang as a member of the Second Tenor section. The Chorus refers to these members who are no longer able to sing with the group as members of the "Fifth Section." They are listed Chorus programs and on the group's website: https://www.sfgmc.org/about_fifth.shtml