Obituary for John Fitch Marion
John F. Marion, 97, of Williamstown, MA passed away peacefully at his home on January 9, 2023 with his loving wife Joan by his side.
John was born in 1925 in Plainfield, NJ, outside of New York City where his father worked six days a week as a mining executive. John grew up in a supportive family environment during the great depression developing skills around the home and a strong lifelong work ethic. John excelled at math and science and as a boy built and flew model airplanes with a local club. Upon the start of WWII, John enlisted in the Navy and was trained as carrier fighter pilot. He learned to fly in a Stearman biplane soloing in the winter of 1945 at the Great Lake Naval Training Center outside of Chicago. He later moved to carrier fighter training (Hell Cat) in Pensacola, FL. At the end of the war, John attended Cornell University supported by the GI bill, and received a BS in Physics and an MS in Electrical Engineering. Spent his career in radar systems and rocket guidance technology working for both Sperry and Raytheon. At Raytheon, John had a leading role in the development of the Patriot missile defense system. Mid-career, in 1970, John earned a PhD in Physics at Adelphi University. His hobbies complimented his intellect and included astronomy, ham radios, electronics, computers, model trains, and radio controlled planes. John’s love for flying resumed later in life as a private plane owner and pilot. John loved to fly around New England, visiting places like Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket for lunch and then returning to his home base at Hanscom field near Lexington, MA where he lived from 1970 to 1998.
At Cornell, John met his first wife Norma of 52 years who predeceased him in 2003 after a long battle with a debilitating degenerative disease that challenged their final years together. John and Norma had three children; two girls, Lynn Frances Marion and Ann Ross Marion, and a son John Leonard Marion. John F. Marion is survived by his son John, his wife Elizabeth and grandchildren Jessica Marion and Stacey Marion, Jessica’s husband Lincoln Benedict (also a private pilot and owner), Lynn Marion and her husband Brad Witham, and Ann’s husband Moe Shore and granddaughter Sarah Dayan, Sarah’s husband Jeremie Dayan, and great grandchildren Eva and Leon, and granddaughter Amanda Shore, Amanda’s Husband Rohan Jain John’s first daughter Ann sadly passed only months earlier in 2022 having succumbed to the same degenerative disease that claimed her mother Norma Marion.
John met and married Joan, his current wife in 2004 at the age of 79. They had loving years together in their home in Williamstown overlooking Mt Greylock within view of the Williamstown airport where John’s love of flying was renewed on a daily basis as he could watch private planes coming and going. John and Joan traveled around the US and for a period of time stayed winters in Port Saint Lucy, FL although in recent years remained year round in Williamstown. John is survived by Joan Marion and her daughters Susan St. Pierre and Donna LaValley-Leary who provided loving care to John and Joan in their final years together and Joan's son Norman LaValley.
Donations may be made in John’s memory to HospiceCare in the Berkshires Inc. - https://hcib.org/
John was born in 1925 in Plainfield, NJ, outside of New York City where his father worked six days a week as a mining executive. John grew up in a supportive family environment during the great depression developing skills around the home and a strong lifelong work ethic. John excelled at math and science and as a boy built and flew model airplanes with a local club. Upon the start of WWII, John enlisted in the Navy and was trained as carrier fighter pilot. He learned to fly in a Stearman biplane soloing in the winter of 1945 at the Great Lake Naval Training Center outside of Chicago. He later moved to carrier fighter training (Hell Cat) in Pensacola, FL. At the end of the war, John attended Cornell University supported by the GI bill, and received a BS in Physics and an MS in Electrical Engineering. Spent his career in radar systems and rocket guidance technology working for both Sperry and Raytheon. At Raytheon, John had a leading role in the development of the Patriot missile defense system. Mid-career, in 1970, John earned a PhD in Physics at Adelphi University. His hobbies complimented his intellect and included astronomy, ham radios, electronics, computers, model trains, and radio controlled planes. John’s love for flying resumed later in life as a private plane owner and pilot. John loved to fly around New England, visiting places like Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket for lunch and then returning to his home base at Hanscom field near Lexington, MA where he lived from 1970 to 1998.
At Cornell, John met his first wife Norma of 52 years who predeceased him in 2003 after a long battle with a debilitating degenerative disease that challenged their final years together. John and Norma had three children; two girls, Lynn Frances Marion and Ann Ross Marion, and a son John Leonard Marion. John F. Marion is survived by his son John, his wife Elizabeth and grandchildren Jessica Marion and Stacey Marion, Jessica’s husband Lincoln Benedict (also a private pilot and owner), Lynn Marion and her husband Brad Witham, and Ann’s husband Moe Shore and granddaughter Sarah Dayan, Sarah’s husband Jeremie Dayan, and great grandchildren Eva and Leon, and granddaughter Amanda Shore, Amanda’s Husband Rohan Jain John’s first daughter Ann sadly passed only months earlier in 2022 having succumbed to the same degenerative disease that claimed her mother Norma Marion.
John met and married Joan, his current wife in 2004 at the age of 79. They had loving years together in their home in Williamstown overlooking Mt Greylock within view of the Williamstown airport where John’s love of flying was renewed on a daily basis as he could watch private planes coming and going. John and Joan traveled around the US and for a period of time stayed winters in Port Saint Lucy, FL although in recent years remained year round in Williamstown. John is survived by Joan Marion and her daughters Susan St. Pierre and Donna LaValley-Leary who provided loving care to John and Joan in their final years together and Joan's son Norman LaValley.
Donations may be made in John’s memory to HospiceCare in the Berkshires Inc. - https://hcib.org/