John Lockwood Fletcher, Jr. '39
Jack Fletcher died on May 18, 2008, at a clinic near his home. Survivors include his wife of sixty-two years, June; two daughters, Elizabeth and Kimberly; and a grandson, John Hussey III, now a sophomore at Skidmore College.
After college, Jack obtained a masters degree in political science from the Univ. of Chicago in 1940. On a trip to Washington, DC, seeking a job with the government, he met his future wife, June. Both of them had had training in cryptanalysis in college. Jack was called by the US Army and June by the US Navy to work in intelligence.
Jack ended up in the village of Bletchley Park, the home of British Intelligence, where he spent the war helping to crack the messages on the famous Ultra machine. After the war, Jack and June were reunited and married.
After a two year stint with the government housing department, Jack entered Harvard Univ. and obtained a PhD in political science, which led to a position teaching political science at Boston Univ., an assignment which continued for thirty-one years.
Both Jack and June stopped work in 1982 and moved to a tidal pond location on Cape Cod. Meanwhile, both daughters completed college (Mount Holyoke) and found employment, one as a librarian and the other as a lawyer. Both lived close to their parents and visited regularly.
Jack and June enjoyed traveling and made several overseas trips; the longest one was to China.
According to his family, Jack was a good citizen, father, and a real gentleman who was loved by all.
—Henry W. Seeley ’39