JOHN J. ST. JOHN,
FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER

John J. St. John, age 81; of Leesburg, VA, died on April 22, 2016, after an illness of several years.

Mr. St. John was born and raised in Philadelphia, where he is still remembered by many seniors as having been their baseball coach many years ago. He attended St. Joseph's Prep, the University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton University.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1956, he served three years in the United States Navy, first as a gunnery officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CVA 59), at the time the nation's largest carrier, and later as an instructor at the Fire School of the Naval Damage Control Training Center at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

In 1961, he began his career as a Foreign Service Officer in the United States Department of State. His first assignment was as Vice Consul in the Consulate General at Monterrey, Mexico. There, he met Elsa Villarreal Sada, who was working at the Consulate. They were married in September 1963. Throughout his career, the locus of Mr. St. John's diplomatic assignments alternated between Washington, D.C. and a host of foreign locales. He served as a junior economic officer in the London Embassy. After completing a graduate course of studies in economics at Princeton University, he became Economic Counselor, a member of the Ambassador's staff in the Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua, where he often dealt directly with Nicaraguan President Somoza.

As Deputy Director of the State Department's Office of Industrial and Strategic Materials, he kept the Secretary of State informed of all developments regarding the availability of critical mineral ores. In 1980, he attended the National War College. In Geneva, Switzerland, Mr. St. John was Economic Minister at the United States Mission to the United Nations. Later, he coordinated trade agreements involving the United States and countries around the globe. Mr. St. John was Director of Mexican Affairs when he retired from the Foreign Service. In 1990, Mr. St. John formed a private consulting business which he pursued on a part-time basis.

He enjoyed tennis, memory writing, and foreign and domestic travel.

Mr. St. John is survived by his wife of 52 years, Elsa, and by their children Renée, Terry and Christopher (Bethany), and by grandchildren John Alexander and Lily Catherine. He is also survived by a sister E. Patricia Carty, and a brother Gerard J. St. John.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, 101 Oakcrest Manor Dr., NE, Leesburg, VA, beginning at 10 AM, Thursday April 28. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to any charity. Burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.