George Munn Hanford ’46

The summer of ’42 brought John to Princeton from Kent School, where Spanish had become his “foremost love in matters academic,” he said. The winter of 1943 saw him in the Army Air Force learning to arm B-24 Liberators, a skill he pursued in southern Italy to war’s end. John eventually spent 23 years in the Army Reserve, graduating from the Army Command and General Staff College, and retiring as a major.

John taught Spanish at Taft, Hackley, and Denver Country Day schools. He spent 17 years as assistant headmaster in Denver. After retiring, he joined his Colorado community’s weekly suburban newspaper, The Villager. “John loved the written word,” reported the paper after he died of a heart attack without warning Nov. 9. He wrote, it said, “the most popular column in the newspaper, Cops and Robbers, and proofread news copy from 1983 to 2006.” John also served as a volunteer for Four Mile Historic Park, Planned Parenthood, and Christ Episcopal Church.

John’s wife, Marilyn, died in 1997. His sons, John M. Hanford III and Charles Hanford, survive. Another son, Todd, predeceased him.

John’s ready enthusiasm added glowingly to reunions at Kent, Princeton, and the USAAF 451st Bombardment Group. We miss that smile.