John L. Heckscher ’58

John died peacefully June 21, 2017, in Wayland, Mass., after a courageous battle with cancer.

A graduate of Haverford School (Pa.), at Princeton he majored in electrical engineering and was a member of Key and Seal Club. He was on the 1957 soccer team, which won the Ivy League Championship for the first time. During his senior year he roomed with Bromley, Dennis Day, Lankford, Van Dusen, and Wrenn.

John earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins in 1959.

He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force and subsequently worked for the Air Force as a civilian. John worked at Hanscom Air Force Base, outside of Boston, as a research and program manager for 42 years. His work projects in low-frequency radio waves and ionospheric research took him to Alaska, Greenland, Sweden, and Denmark. John was named “Outstanding Professional Employee” for 1994 by the Boston Federal Executive Board and was given the Outstanding Civilian Career Service Award by the Department of the Air Force.

He served on the board of the Wayland Historical Society, editing its newsletter for 11 years.

To Kathy, his wife of 49 years; his daughters Sarah ’92 and Elizabeth ’94; and his four grandchildren; the class extends its deepest sympathy.