John died Oct. 30, 2013, in Portland, Maine, from complications of Parkinson’s disease.
John grew up in Pittsburgh. Attending Princeton on a Navy ROTC scholarship, John majored in electrical engineering, rowed crew, and joined Cap and Gown. He roomed with David Humphrey, Bert Crofton, Dick Bodman, and Jon Schumacher. Following graduation he served in the Navy as a “frogman” with Underwater Demolition Team 21. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh Law School in 1965.
John joined the Pittsburgh law firm Thorp, Reed & Armstrong in 1971, where he litigated civil and criminal cases until he retired in 1998. His obituary in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that his distinguished legal career “took him from the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice to … [Pittsburgh’s] public-safety director … to two nominations for federal judgeships.”
As his friends and colleagues told the Post-Gazette, John’s “most significant personal accomplishment was his drive to achieve fairness and justice for all.” He served as president of Pittsburgh’s Civil Service Commission and of the Allegheny County Bar Association. He also served on Pittsburgh’s Citizens Police Review Board and the board of the Negro Education Emergency Drive.
John is survived by Marsha, his wife of 48 years; daughter Lynn Scott; son Michael ’92; and four grandchildren.