Raised in Hartford, Conn., he came to us from Kingswood School. At Princeton he majored in economics, ate at Tiger Inn, and was a member of the Glee Club, the Sailing Club, the Outing Club, and the 21 Club. His senior-year roommates were Bill Robertson, Jim Kellogg, Dick Riggs, and Perry Thomas.
Right out of Princeton John joined the Manufacturers Hanover Trust, a predecessor of JPMorgan Chase, as a trainee, and by 1981 he was the bank’s president, only the first of the many financial and business enterprises he led, including one in Bangalore, India. They included CalFed, Core Capital Partners (he was a founder), Fortune Bancorp, and the International Executive Services Corp. His board memberships included Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Paine Webber, New York Telephone, Colt Industries, Volt Information Sciences, Columbia’s Graduate School of Business, and Juilliard. John thought of himself as a builder and never stopped working or expanding his banking and business interests.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Anne; and three children and their families, which include eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.