John Vincent Ello was born on 10 Dec 1936 in New York City. He was the second of John and Lillian Ello’s three children and was raised in the Bronx. His father was an amateur boxer, a bricklayer and a patrolman with the New York City Police Department. His mother was a secretary and the first New York employee of insurance giant AIG.
In 1951, John entered Manhattan’s Xavier High School, an all-boys Jesuit military school. His four years there fueled an interest in the military and West Point. After graduating in 1954 with little hope of obtaining a rare congressional appointment, John spent two years working on Wall Street and also in the New York National Guard, dreaming of obtaining a slot to West Point earmarked for National Guard and Reserve candidates. After completing the entrance exam on 18 Mar 1956, John was offered one of only thirty-four competitive slots for the Academy’s Class of 1960.
He was extremely proud to be a cadet and enjoyed his four years at the Academy. During his First Class year, he met Lynn Hall on the Jersey Shore. She was an early-childhood education teacher in New Jersey at the time. John and Lynn were married in the Catholic Chapel at West Point in May of 1961, during John’s first assignment. John chose to go Air Force following graduation and, after training, was sent to the Strategic Air Command at Fairchild AFB, Spokane, WA. In 1962, he was a missile combat crew commander during DEFCON 2 and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
John attended Gonzaga University Law School at night while at Fairchild. John and Lynn’s daughter, Darcy, was born at Fairchild in May 1964. In November 1966, while stationed at Vandenberg AFB, CA, their son, Mark, was born. John completed two master’s degrees in the following few years, one at the University of Southern California School of Business and the other at Auburn University.
During a five-year tour in Germany, John served as the executive officer to the commander in chief of the United States Air Force Europe. In 1977, John became an Air Force research associate at MIT and was a senior research fellow at the National War College in 1978.
After his time at the National War College and until his death, John and his family lived outside of Washington, DC, in Burke, VA. After John retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1985, he served at the Pentagon in the Department of Defense as Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for International Technology and Trade. In 1990, he was appointed executive director of the Defense Science Board, a position he held until his retirement in 2002. He received the Exceptional Civilian Service award while with the Defense Science Board and truly loved his work and interfacing between the Department of Defense and the private sector.
During his retirement, and despite being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2004, John found time for his many hobbies. Traveling, skiing and golf with Lynn and friends were among the many things he did up until his last days.
John also loved to fish and spend time at the family’s vacation home in Duck, NC. His love of history kept him devouring books on U.S. history and finding time for several trips with friends to historical sites and museums. Throughout his life, John developed a reputation for the meticulous care of his lawn, skill with crossword puzzles and movie trivia, as well as a great sense of humor. His phone calls to dear friends went on for hours, and his humor was enjoyed by all.
After four-and-a-half productive and cancer-free years following diagnosis and treatment, John died suddenly of a heart attack in August 2008. Darcy, Mark and I remember John as a happy, proud man who enjoyed his family and shared good values, love of country and education with us. He was a devoted, generous, loving husband, father and grandfather who supported his family in all of their endeavors. He was an advocate for people with disabilities and became one of his granddaughter’s biggest supporters. Charlotte Woodward was born in 1989 with Down syndrome, and she and John spent many hours discussing politics and history. Now Charlotte is a sophomore in college. John was also fortunate to have spent happy times with his grandson, Aldo Noury-Ello, and granddaughter, Bibi Noury-Ello. John dearly loved his children, their spouses and his grandchildren and was very, very proud of them.
John’s charisma and distinctive voice, good humor, love of family, country and West Point will echo within us for all the years to come.
—With devoted love to my dear husband, Lynn Ello