Whether he was assigning handicaps, kangaroo-court style, for a golf outing, showing off the speed of his boat or conniving a way to get around a dress code in a Las Vegas casino restaurant, John A. Schepner always found a way to have fun.

The folks around him did, too.

"John enjoyed life every single day. He loved life. He loved people. If you were with John, you were having a good time," said Dave Natali, Schepner's former teammate on the University of Pittsburgh swim team and a lifelong friend.

Mr. Schepner, of Robinson, died Monday of a heart attack. An employee of the Federated Funeral Directors of America, he was 49.

A record-holding freestyle swimmer who was Pitt team captain in 1977, Mr. Schepner remained active in athletics his entire life. He golfed, swam and engaged in a walking activity called flapping, in which the walker moves strenuously while flapping his arms like a bird.

"It's great for the biceps, triceps and deltoids," said his youngest brother, David, of Conneaut Lake, Crawford County. "It's a good workout, but it looks pretty funny. Only John could pull that off, walking down the street three or four times a week."

The same could be said of how he got into the Las Vegas casino when he was told he could not enter because he was wearing shorts.

"John bought a pair of pants off a waiter who was going off work," said Jack Kirk, a longtime friend and colleague in the funeral industry. "He said, 'How do I look?' They were too big. He had to pull his shirt real tight."

He was famous for the kangaroo courts he held for annual golf outings with his family and his swimming teammates. They were held the night before the event, and each golfer presented arguments on why he should be given a certain amount of strokes as a handicap.

"John was the judge and he'd hear dissenting opinions," Natali said.

The family's court, called the "Forty Thieves," came first, and then, Natali said, the swimmers who met annually at Myrtle Beach, S.C., adopted it. It grew to the point where some people presented videos as evidence.

Mr. Schepner had a serious side, too, especially when it came to his two sons, wife, extended family and friends.

"John was a second father to me," David Schepner said. "He was there for me for everything from financial advice to swimming. We were both captains of the Pitt swim team. He was my mentor with life questions. He was the go-to guy."

The best thing Mr. Schepner did for his youngest brother was to save his life. Mr. Schepner was 22 and manager of the Montour Country Club pool. David Schepner was 6. The little boy decided the best way to start his first swim of the summer would be to go off the diving board, but when he hit the water, he froze.

"As I drifted toward the bottom and the lifeguard watched, John dove in in his clothes and saved me," he said. "I forgot how to swim, as they say."

Neal Wallace of Collier, who was a year behind Mr. Schepner on the Pitt swim team, came to regard him as a "big brother. He was the kind of person who kind of watched over you. He made you at ease with his friends."

A former college swimming referee, Mr. Schepner most recently spent much of his time following his sons' sports activities. Eric, 19, swims for Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Sam, 18, plays basketball for Montour High School. Mr. Schepner was president of the Montour Basketball Boosters at the time of his death.

"He was so proud of his sons' swimming and basketball careers," said his widow, Leanne. "He never missed an event if possible. He was really looking forward to following their college careers."

Mr. Schepner was a graduate of the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science as well as Pitt and former owner of Edward A. Schepner Funeral Home.

Besides his wife, sons and brother David, he is survived by his parents, Pat and Ed Schepner of Crafton, and three other brothers: Rob, of Hampton, Adam, of Boston, Mass., and Charlie, of Henderson, Nev.

Visitors will be received at Schepner-McDermott Funeral Home, Crafton, today from 1 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. A Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. Philip Church, Crafton.