John Charles Leary – Captain, United States Air Force Foreign Service Officer

From a contemporary press report:

John Charles “Jack” Leary, 78, who was in the Foreign Service from 1950 to 1988 and retired as charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Grenada, died of cancer August 4, 2002, at his home in Alexandria, Virginia.

Mr. Leary, an Economics Officer, held posts in Europe, Asia, North America and South America during his State Department career. He also was a U.S. representative to the U.N. Industrial Development Organization.

He had maintained a home in the Washington area since 1959. He was a co-founder of the Colonial Swimming League of Northern Virginia and a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church and the Brookville-Seminary Valley Civic Association, both in Alexandria.

He did volunteer work for Meals on Wheels.

He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and served in the Army Air Forces in Europe during World War II. He was a fighter pilot and a flight instructor, and his decorations included the Distinguished Flying Cross.

He was a graduate of Yale University, where he also received a master’s degree in business administration. He attended the Wharton School of business at the University of Pennsylvania.

A daughter, Patricia Fay Leary, died in infancy.

Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Nancy Smith Leary of Alexandria; five children, Robert Leary of Springfield, John Leary Jr. of Alexandria and Suzanne Leary Taylor, Barbara Leary Jones and Maggie Leary Barrett, all of Richmond; and three grandchildren.

LEARY, JOHN CHARLES

On August 4, 2002. Survived by wife Nancy Leary; children, Suzy Taylor, Robert Leary, Barbara Leary Jones, John Leary Jr., and Maggie Barrett and grandchildren, Lauren and Alex Connolly, Anna Jones and Koko Barrett. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Friday, August 9, at 11:00a.m. at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 1427 West Braddock Rd., Alexandria. Interment will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Inova VNA Home Health, 5701-D General Washington Dr., Alexandria, VA 22312 or The AFSA Scholarship Fund, 2101 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard