Born in Milwaukee, he attended Culver Military Academy, where he was student captain of the famed Black Horse Troop, junior class president, and a member of the Honor Council and wrestling team. There being no horses at Princeton, John had to forgo his equestrian prowess, but continued his grappling with the freshman wrestling team. He took meals at Tiger Inn, majored in politics, and roomed with Fisher, Reydel, Tonetti, Woolverton, and Zweiback. Heading back west after graduation he earned a law degree from the University of Michigan, then moved farther west to practice law in San Francisco and in Sedona and Prescott, Ariz.
Retiring after 35 years before the bar, John returned to academia, obtaining a postgraduate degree from the Orvis fly-fishing school and setting off to Dillon, Mont., to practice his newly acquired angling skills with JoAnn Juliano, his partner and later his second wife. Together they hosted the Beaverhead County morning radio talk show and were active in civic affairs. They embraced Dillon and Dillon embraced them, selecting them as grand marshals of the annual Dillon Labor Day parade.
John is survived by JoAnn; sons by his first marriage, John III and Jay’89; and stepsons David Juliano and Dean Kannes.