Weathersfield,
Vt. — John Dean Wright, Jr. was born in Brookline, Mass., the youngest
of three children born to John Dean Wright and Edith Maude (Hammond)
Wright, both born and raised in Vermont. He grew up in Newtonville,
Mass., attending Newton High School. During his high school years he
took both piano and voice lessons and developed a life-long love of
classical music. He also joined the glee club and was on the stage crew
where he became interested in drama.
John attended Dartmouth
College and was a member of the Dartmouth Glee Club. While at college he
attended a conference in Northfield, Mass. where he met Frances Kohl
who was also attending from Mt. Holyoke and who later became his wife
and the love of his life.
The year he graduated from
college was also the year he and Fran were married and he obtained a
commission in the Navy. He was first assigned to the Port Director’s
Office in Wood’s Hole, then later New Bedford and finally to the 7th
Fleet in the Philippines.
After World War II, he
received Master’s and Doctorate degrees in American History at Columbia
University. Upon graduation, he obtained a position at Transylvania
University in Lexington, Ky. where he spent his entire teaching career,
both as professor and chairman of the History Dept. He loved the small
campus atmosphere and the close contact with his students, some of whom
were still in contact with him just last year. While there, he was
commissioned to write The History of Transylvania. He also wrote
Lexington Heart of the Bluegrass and collaborated on Lexington, A
Century in Photographs. While in Lexington Fran and John were very
active in the Presbyterian church and several community organizations.
In 1985, John and Fran
retired to his family farm in Vermont, where they became very involved
with the Weathersfield Center and the Weathersfield Historical Society.
He loved the area and the feeling of family history he had here.
He will be missed for his outstanding
instruction in the history of Western Civilization, his love and sharing
of beautiful music, his gentle demeanor and his integrity, generosity
of spirit and unpretentious yet superior intellect. He had an unmatched
understanding of the human condition and it’s relationship to
spirituality and preached many sermons on this subject.
He is survived by his wife
of 73 years, Frances; two daughters, Beverly Boardman and Judith Holt;
two grandchildren, Ivan Lee Holt IV and Mary Frances Holt; and three
great-grandchildren, Kelsey Lauren Holt, Alexander Lee Holt and William
Dean Holt.
We would like to thank Chris
DeCamp and all her wonderful caring staff for their complete and loving
nursing care for John in the last months at his home.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 2 at the Weathersfield Center in Weathersfield.
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