John Eugene Mackey – 50th Reunion Essay

John Eugene Mackey

Date of Death: 15-Aug-1995

College: Morse

(This obituary appeared in the November 1995 Class Notes.)

John Mackey died on the night of Tuesday, August 15, 1995. All of John’s friends mourn him deeply. We all remember him as he was in the 1960s—young and vital. There was always a vivid excitement about him as well as an uncanny ability to bring out the best in all of us.

Our hearts go out to Jan; to their children: Alex, John, and Jane; and to the whole family. We think especially now of Jan, whom we remember so well from freshman year because John talked about her endlessly. Against all odds, he won her, and that was the smartest thing he ever did.

Many of us knew in recent months that John was terminally ill. So, his death comes as a release from pain. We can take some solace from that. But all of us, upon learning of John’s death, felt a deep pang of loneliness.

From the 25th Reunion Classbook: Look back with great affection on our years at Yale. Some regrets that the last couple of years were riddled with conflict and confusion, but all in all, they were “Bright College Years.”

Happily/luckily married to Jan and have three growing kids—Alex (seventeen), Johnny (twelve), and Jamie (nine). We are settled into St. Louis after a tour through Philadelphia in the late seventies. Yale has not been part of our lives except through some contact with Phil and Dottie Laughlin in Chicago.

Family, work, friends, tennis, wannabe golfer, sidebars of reading, art, sailing, skiing, volunteering on school boards, etc., fill hours amply. Too much to do. Too little time. Ever heard that before?

From Richard Tedlow: My most vivid recollection of John was that he was a great conversationalist. We talked a lot—sometimes just chatting in the course of a day, sometimes at serious times, such as after his father died. He was very astute in his perceptions of people; and since there was endless gossip in our circle, he was in demand. I spent a good deal of time with him at Yale and in the summer of ’67 in California, and he was unfailingly interesting to talk to. Tall, athletic, and good looking, he was attractive to girls. But there was only one girl that ever really mattered to him. That was Jan Shapleigh, whom he married on September 19,1970. It’s easy for me to remember the wedding day because I still have the brass shoehorn with an inscription which Jan and John gave to a number of us. Jan helped John grow up. These two people loved each other and had three terrific children. John died much too young. His brother said after his death that everyone wanted to be on John’s team. There is a lot of truth in that statement.

From Phil Laughlin: I flew out to visit John in St. Louis during the last days of his battle with cancer. He told me he was going off treatment and said, in his controlled, non-flustered way: “I think we are going to call it a day.” John’s statement is now permanently imprinted in my brain.