John F. McLaughlin ’61

John died Nov. 25, 2025, while celebrating his 64th wedding anniversary with his beloved wife, at home in Arlington, Va.

Born in Philadelphia, he graduated from Passaic Valley High School in Little Falls, N.J. At Princeton, “The Redman” was VP and co-social chair of Court Club and a member of The Aquinas Foundation and Whig-Clio. He roomed with Nick Gotten and graduated with a history degree.John died Nov. 25, 2025, while celebrating his 64th wedding anniversary with his beloved wife, at home in Arlington, Va.

John died Nov. 25, 2025, while celebrating his 64th wedding anniversary with his beloved wife, at home in Arlington, Va.

Born in Philadelphia, he graduated from Passaic Valley High School in Little Falls, N.J. At Princeton, “The Redman” was VP and co-social chair of Court Club and a member of The Aquinas Foundation and Whig-Clio. He roomed with Nick Gotten and graduated with a history degree.

After Princeton, John chose civil service, starting at the R&D budget office of the then two-year old Federal Aviation Administration in Washington, D.C. Moving to the U.S. Postal Service at postal headquarters included leading efforts that brought passport application processing to post offices nationwide.

After 12 years and serving eight postmasters general, John left for the Program on Information Resources Policy at Harvard University. At PIRP he wrote “Mapping the Information Business,” a tool for viewing the whole information industry and the companies in it, which was translated into more than 20 languages. During this time, John was elected a selectman in Lexington, Mass. In 1995, John retired and moved to Arlington.

John is survived by his wife, Patty; their children, Moira, John, and Kevin; six grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.