The following memorial was published online with the June 3, 2015, issue.
John died Jan. 27, 1962. His sister, Laura Hockaday, reports that in 1961, John was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. His doctors gave him three months to live. He lived seven, and died shortly before our graduation. He was a junior at the University of Kansas. Just before his death, Laura remembers, John and several friends went to Mexico. "He had a blast," she says. "He came home and died a week later."
John grew up in Kansas City, Mo., and graduated from Pembroke-Country Day School before following his father, an uncle, and a cousin to Princeton. John was with us less than a year before transferring to the University of Kansas in 1959, but Laura recalls that he loved his time at Princeton. While still with our class, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve.
At Pembroke, his family and his many friends created a student lounge named for him. A memorial plaque reads in part:
"John Hockaday loved life. He loved friendship, fellowship, and fun. And he loved Pembroke-Country Day. He was a leader, serving as president of the student council in his senior year of 1957-58 and captain of the football team. But more than that, he generated a spirit among his colleagues remembered decades after his death...he faced death with strength, resolve and no complaints."
His cousin, Irvine Hockaday '58, wrote to the class: "If John were alive today, his life would incarnate those values that Princeton most cherishes, service to our nation and community and a lifelong love of learning. He exhibited these traits early and to an extent rarely seen in those as young as he was. Princeton would be enormously proud of him as are we who knew and loved him."
John was survived by his parents, Laura, and his cousin, Irv; and Irv's wife, Ellen. His father, Burnham Hockaday, died in 1996 at the age of 100, the last surviving member of Princeton's Class of 1919.