Born in 1920 in Narberth, Pa., he graduated cum laude from the Haverford School and with honors from Princeton. While at Princeton, John was on The Daily Princetonian staff, serving as advertising manager his senior year, and was president of Cloister Inn. His roommates were Spike Haines, J.J. Gartland, and Robert Cox.
John graduated from Harvard Law School magna cum laude in 1944, where he was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Law Review. John was a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath in Philadelphia from 1951 to 1959 and then was senior vice president at PSFS until 1970, when he became president, chairman, and CEO of Germantown Savings Bank until 1992. He served on many corporate and charitable boards, including Fannie Mae and Chicago Title & Trust, and was chairman of the National Association of Mortgage Bankers.
John’s first marriage ended in divorce, and he married H. Anne Merriman in 1974. He is survived by Anne; his children, Joanne K. Phillips, John A. Krout, and Robert E. Krout; stepchildren Elizabeth H. Brownback and P. Deal Heppe Jr.; six grandchildren; and one great-grandson.