John E. Klinger, who lived with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) for at least 11 years, died Saturday of AIDS-related pneumonia at University Hospital. He was 44.
An English literature graduate of Purdue University, Mr. Klinger turned to cooking for a living.
He advanced from flipping steaks in a family restaurant to sous-chef - assistant chef and executive chef for hotels and fine restaurants in Indiana and Florida, his longtime companion, James Jackson, said Tuesday.
"He was a great cook," added his sister, Frances Klinger of Bloomington, Ind. "He was good at it from the time we were little kids."
Mr. Klinger was diagnosed with HIV in 1987 and AIDS in 1992, Mr. Jackson said. After 1993, Mr. Klinger was too ill to work.
They moved to Cincinnati in 1996 and Mr. Jackson cared for Mr. Klinger at their downtown apartment.
"I'm HIV-negative," Mr. Jackson said. "It proves that AIDS is a completely preventable disease. . . . It shows that you don't have to be afraid of people suffering from the disease."
He said Mr. Klinger suspected he was infected early on and lost his insurance soon after he was diagnosed HIV-positive.
As a result, Mr. Klinger participated in AIDS-related drug experiments in exchange for care he otherwise could not afford. Some of those drugs are common today, Mr. Jackson said. "I think they helped," but he attributed Mr. Klinger's long survival "mostly to his determination and his will to live. . . . He was very determined to fight the disease as much as possible."
That wasn't easy, Mr. Jackson recalled. "His suffering, in a word, was enormous."
Still, "he believed life was worth it, and he tried to wring every last scrap of joy" from his final years. If anything, Mr. Jackson said, his companion demonstrated "how precious life is," and he was "a little awed" by Mr. Klinger's determination. When they arrived in Cincinnati, Mr. Jackson recalled, he was "pudgy" from years of Mr. Klinger's "fine cooking." Running between his work downtown and their apartment to care for Mr. Klinger took care of that.
In addition to Mr. Jackson and Ms. Klinger, Mr. Klinger is survived by his father, George, and brothers, Steve and Joseph, all of the Lafayette, Ind., area.
The funeral will be Saturdayat Hahn Memorial Funeral Home, Lafayette, with burial there in St. Boniface Cemetery.
Memorials may be sent to AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati, 2183 Central Parkway, Cincinnati 45214.
