John died May 5, 2020, at his home in Fairfax, Va. He was 84. 

He came to Princeton from DeVilbiss High School in Toledo, Ohio, where he was president of the student council. 

At Princeton he was on the freshman lightweight crew, a member of Campus Club, student manager of the student center, and a member of the Undergraduate Schools and Scholarships Committee. He majored in the Woodrow Wilson School. His senior roommates were Dave Grundy, Paul Hatcher, Bob McConnell, Fred Miller, Henry Kaneps, Mal Roberts, and Don Ward. 

Shortly after graduation he married Sue McMurray and was accepted into the Foreign Service, which led to nine different positions. From 1982 to 1985 he was “our man in Cuba” and was ambassador to Honduras from 1985 to 1986. When Iran-Contra broke, his insistence on written instructions forced him out of the Foreign Service but he became national intelligence officer for economics at the CIA and later director of the Department of Labor’s international assistance programs. The best description of his career is his fascinating book Fencing with Fidel. 

John is survived by his wife, Sue; daughter Carol Anne “Ché”; sons Johnny and David; and three grandchildren. The class extends its deepest sympathy to them all. 

Class Year: 
Undergraduate Class of 1958