After public school in Ephrata, Pa., and Franklin and Marshall School, John graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1944, and from Princeton in 1948 with a degree in economics.

John entered the dairy business in a company that had been founded in 1890 by his grandfather. He followed his father as a director, president, and then chairman of what had become Penn Dairies. Under that company name and private label, Penn Dairies produced, distributed, and sold dairy products from Maine to Virginia and through a number of company-owned convenience and dairy stores. After John’s retirement in 1990, the company was sold to Crowley Foods of Binghamton, N.Y.

As avocations in Pennsylvania and in Naples, Fla., John was an avid golfer and tennis player, and he was a private pilot with multi-engine and instrumental ratings. He also was a founder or leader of many industry and community organizations.

He was married for 54 years to Barbara, who died in 2003. They are survived by two sons, two granddaughters, and five great-grandchildren. John then married Barbara Betts, who died Aug. 30, 2019, and thus became stepfather to two stepdaughters and two stepsons.