John R. Breihan ’69

Jack died Feb. 18, 2022, in Towson, Md., of complications from Parkinson’s disease. 

Jack was from St. Louis, where he attended St. John Vianney High School. At Princeton he majored in history, the field that became his life’s work.

Jack earned a Ph.D. in history from Cambridge, focusing on the British reaction to the American Revolution. In 1977 he joined the faculty of Loyola University, Maryland, where he chaired the history department twice, researched World War II aviation, and retired in 2017 as professor emeritus.

Revered by faculty and students, Jack helped lead Loyola’s transformation into a regional comprehensive university, chairing the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, helping launch the Honors Program, creating a cross-curriculum writing program, and hosting legendary barbecues. A colleague remarked, “He was the best person I ever knew.”

Jack married Ann Whitney, the love of his life, in 1970. Admiring friends describe how, when Ann’s parents died in an accident, the young couple put their careers on hold to return to her hometown to raise her disabled sister.

Jack is survived by Ann; children Tom, Jim, and Meg; five grandchildren; and his mother, brother, and sister. The Class of 1969 joins them in mourning the passing of this brilliant scholar and kind and loving gentleman.