Memorial Planned For Photographer Who Died After Violent Attack

VENICE, CA — John DeCindis, 76, was not only a photographer and adventurer — he was a steadfast friend and supporter to many in the Venice community and beyond.

DeCindis died Feb. 27 following a violent attack on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice in February. His friends and family are planning a virtual memorial this month to celebrate and honor his life.

Lori McBrayer was his neighbor and saw him every day for 20 years.

"We were buddies," McBrayer told Patch. "We talked every day. I knew all his dogs. He was such a wonderful, kind, encouraging person. He would ask me about my life."

DeCindis was always there for her, no matter what.

"He was family to me," McBrayer said. "He was the one constant in my life. Nothing more constant in my life."

She helped him every day after he was attacked.

"It’s really so sad and I remember the day after I saw he was beaten up, he came out in a walker and I was like 'Oh my God,'" McBrayer said. "His face was black and he could barely walk. And you know what, he never complained once. He was in so much pain."

"He couldn’t even get out of his bed on his own," she added.

This was the same neighbor who always had a hobby, who took photographs, did archery — he even played a trumpet three times a week, she added. She could hear the trumpet from her house every time.

"I was like 'Oh, he’s not getting better but I’m so glad he’s playing that thing,'" McBrayer said, laughing.

The two neighbors had coffee every morning together.

"He was so active," she said. "Even after this happened it still didn’t keep him down. I did not think he was going to die."

He taught local kids archery, trumpet and asked about his neighbors.

"He was very generous with his time, he would just always encourage me," McBrayer said. "He was like ‘Wow lady, you’re doing so good.’ He was kind, always had positive things to say."

The attack on DeCindis has upset the Venice community. And although a 45-year-old man was arrested last week on suspicion of murder in connection with DeCindis' death, it still doesn't take away the pain.

"I’m so happy that they arrested him," McBrayer said. "And he looks so familiar. I know I passed that guy on the street many times. Thank God he’s off the street."

Facing the loss hasn't been easy, she added.

“It is really heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time to hear the stories everyone is sharing," McBrayer said. "He had a kindness that was unlike most people that I’ve met."

That was simply who he was, his sister, Diana Wieckowicz told Patch. Wieckowicz lives in Santa Cruz with her husband, Richard, and now takes care of her brother's dog, Sophie.

"We grew up on the East Coast and we both came out to California back in the 60s," Wieckowicz told Patch.

Her brother lived in Arizona first, setting up shop as a professional photographer in Tuscon, Arizona. He lived there for several years and moved to Venice around 1970. He’s been in Venice ever since.

"Since then we’ve been in touch," Wieckowicz said. "I’m his family. Our mother died when we were teenagers."

Their father moved to Arizona, then moved to California around 1990 and lived with Wieckowicz.

"John was an integral part of our holidays all that time," she said. "He would come up here every Christmas and every Thanksgiving and he was religious about it when my father moved here."

Each holiday he would bring gifts for his family. He photographed his niece's wedding. He traveled to take pictures of his other niece when she performed "The Nutcracker," and snapped photos as she rode an Andalusian horse in the Rose Parade.

"My children were very much nieces," Wieckowicz said. "He had a close relationship with them."

"Everywhere he went he had a camera on his shoulder," she added.

That was just who he was.

"It was an integral part of him," Wieckowicz said. "We kept in touch on a regular basis by phone and more recently I had three or four surgeries back to back over about three years. Any time I was having any kind of physical problem, medical problem, he called me every single day. 'Hey sis, how are you doing?' He was just so supportive. And likewise, I was always so supportive of him. I could count on him."

She realized after his death that there were about a handful of people in her life who have loved her unconditionally — he was one of them.

"I realized in the last few weeks how unconditionally loving he was of his friends," Wieckowicz said.

He kept in touch with people, she said. He cared.

"That was his nature," Wieckowicz said. "Both of us embraced a sense of being positive beings from our father. That was modeled for us. And I didn’t realize how much he embraced that principle and philosophy until his death."

Whatever happened, he was positive, looking at the silver lining, she said.

"He did that for me and clearly for all those people who loved him and adored him in Venice Beach over the years," Wieckowicz said. "He was a constant. I could always count on him."

This year was unusual and difficult for their family, she added.

"I didn’t see him this year because of COVID, so that was hard for both of us," she said. "This was his home. Our home here in Santa Cruz, which is also by the beach of course, which was natural."

They bonded over their love of the ocean and animals. DeCindis was known in the neighborhood for having dogs and walking them around Venice.

"We both love animals," she said. "I have horses and have had horses for 30 years. We both love dogs, cats."

His sister now has his dog Sophie, who was with him at the time of the attack. Sophie has bonded with her husband of 50 years, Richard. He and DeCindis were close.

"They’re like brothers," she said. "Little Sophie has decided that’s her new daddy. She follows him around like a little shadow."

For musician Evan Wish, his daily routine on Abbot Kinney hasn't been the same since his friend died.

"The coffee tastes different now when I go to Abbott Kinney because the spot next to me is empty because John is not sitting there," Wish told Patch. "That spot is empty because John’s not next to me."

Wish is a classically trained artist from Canada. He moved to Venice and met DeCindis in 2003 on Abbot Kinney.

"I went in for coffee one day and he was sitting at another table right next to me, and I started talking," Wish said. "I told him I do music, I’m a pianist and composer."

John asked him if he needed photos.

"He did all my photos and album covers since 2003," Wish told Patch. "It’s tragic the way he got beat up. You know people die, he was 76 years old, his health was up and down sometimes but it’s just outrageous."

Wish helped clean out DeCindis' house last week with other friends and family members, discovering film strips he had developed, his cameras and computer, and other treasured memories of his work and art.

As things changed in Venice, DeCindis remained a constant in Wish's life.

"At the end of every day John and I, if our time schedules were ok, it was always he and I would have a cup of coffee at Abbot’s Habit," Wish said. "When the Abbot closed we stuck to Abbot Kinney and would go to Kreation or TOM's."

But things haven't been the same since he died.

"He and I were really, really close," Wish said. "He knew everything about me. John was a quiet guy. He didn’t really talk. He was the kind of guy who would sit with you."

"He would ask you like 20 questions and that’d be the conversation," he added.

"The other week, when I was just kind of sitting around in the middle of the night and having a glass of wine, it brought me to tears," Wish said. "That’s just who John was. He was interested in you."

That part is hard, Wish said.

"He wanted to know things," Wish said. "He always used to ask, 'Well, how am I supposed to know if I don’t ask you?' It doesn’t seem real that he’s gone because he was so much a part of my life."

After coffee, Wish and DeCindis would go for a walk with his dogs around Venice.

"When I first met him he had three," he added.

DeCindis helped Wish plan his press release materials for album releases, creating professional photos in a concert hall and building his on-camera presence.

"He’d tell me to smile and I’d tell him musicians don’t smile," Wish said. "Artists don’t smile. We argued like an old couple. We were that close. I’d get upset with him. He’d get upset with me. We’d see each other the next day and it’d be OK."

DeCindis supported his friends — and he had a lot of them.

"Through all this, I also realized how far the web went of all the people he knew," Wish said. "I didn’t know."

When DeCindis' family took his car last week, they found he was still playing Wish's music, along with his Miles Davis CD.

He was into classical music, even in college, Wish said.

"Nowadays everyone would be listening to rap but he’d still be listening to Bach or Chopin," Wish said. "He wasn’t into fads of the time. He was extremely sure of himself. He was a very strong person."

He ran marathons. He had a kayak. He sailed a 26-foot sailboat. He modeled.

“The guy had plans,” Wish said.

He drove his motorcycle across the country to Canada and across the country. He rode to Mexico.

But he wouldn’t get on a plane.

"He’d get on a motorcycle and drive across the country but he wouldn’t get on a plane," Wish said. He had invited DeCindis to travel with him to Japan to help take photos of him before the pandemic changed the plans, but DeCindis declined.

He was always learning, too, he added.

"He was still taking courses on Photoshop," Wish said. "Everyone was in their 20s and 30s. He always wanted to know more."

Nothing held him back. And coffee at 5 p.m. with Wish was DeCindis' constant.

"If he wasn’t on a photo shoot and I wasn’t busy, we were together having coffee," Wish said. "It’s really messed up. I don’t know if I want to go to another photographer. Plus, he never really charged me. The guy loved me. I never could have afforded him."

That bond meant a lot to Wish. DeCindis meant a lot to him.

"Basically, he loved me and I loved him back," Wish said. "We never thought of it as anything but what it was. We were just really cool with each other. He didn’t like everybody. He was very particular. If he liked you, he liked you."

DeCindis would share his photos, his love for archery, and how every bow hit the target.

"Every single arrow was in the red dot," Wish said. "He was an adventurer."

The online event to honor DeCindis is scheduled for March 27 at 1 p.m. Another upcoming memorial and plaque dedication is planned to happen in Venice at TOM's on Abbot Kinney, 1344 Abbot Kinney Blvd.

"They wanted to do something for John," Wish said. "Even during the COVID thing, John would want to order coffee and sit there. He’d say 'I don’t care I want to sit here.' They still loved him."

People who want to attend the virtual memorial can contact Lori McBrayer via email: reflectme123@yahoo.com.