John Paul Hanbury

John Paul Conwell Hanbury

John Paul Conwell Hanbury, 76, of Irvington, Virginia, died on Thursday, April 28, 2011, from surgical complications from mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. His beloved wife, Elaine Overcash Hanbury, was at his side. A thirteenth generation Virginian, he was the second son of the late Blanche Conwell and Euclid Murden Hanbury of Portsmouth, Virginia. His elder brother, Dr. Euclid Murden Hanbury Jr., predeceased him, as did his parents.

He received his architectural education at the University of Virginia where he served as vice president of the student Council. He was a member of the ATO social fraternity, ODK leadership fraternity, TILKA, and the Raven Society. Upon graduation, he served in the United States Naval Reserve and following military service, returned to his native Portsmouth and the practice of architecture in Norfolk. He was the founding partner of Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas, a national and internationally recognized architectural and planning firm specializing in college and university work with a concentration in historic preservation.

Passionate about saving historic structures, John Paul was largely responsible for the preservation of Portsmouth's Olde Towne and the restoration of significant structures therein including Trinity Church, and the adaptive reuse of the 1846 Portsmouth Court House, and the Seaboard Airline Railway Station. He was very involved in his Church, Trinity Episcopal, and served oft time as vestryman and warden as well as trustee. He served Portsmouth's architectural review board and as the founder and first chairman of that city's fine arts commission. In 1985 he was selected as Portsmouth's First Citizen.

In Norfolk he directed the restoration of the 1913 Wells Theatre and the 1850 Freemason Street Baptist Church. He was equally passionate about the arts and was president of the Norfolk Symphony and effecting its merger with the Peninsula Symphony to become the Virginia Symphony. He was the first president of the Cultural Alliance of Hampton Roads and its forerunner, the Metropolitan Arts Congress. He was involved in the formation of the Business Consortium for the Arts and for many years chaired its allocation committee.

Hanbury was the recipient of numerous design awards and in recognition of his service to the architectural profession. He was awarded the Noland Award, the highest award given by the American Institute of Architects in Virginia. He was elected in 1993 to the National College of Fellows of the National Institution. In Richmond he directed the complete restoration of the 1813 Virginia Executive Mansion as well as the restoration and adaptive reuse of the 1919 Branch House as the Virginia Center for Architecture.

He was married in 1998 to Elaine Overcash, and they spent their honeymoon in Italy. In their years together they traveled extensively in Asia. Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and Europe, returning often to their favorite places - Venice and Nevis.

Leaving active practice, Hanbury retired to his home near Irvington and became involved in the community life of the Northern Neck, serving on the boards of Historic Christ Church and Chesapeake Academy. He was a vestryman at Grace Episcopal Church and served as junior and senior warden. He was elected Trustee Emeritus of Randolph-Macon Woman's College, now Randolph College, which he served for ten years as a trustee.

He was descended from the first colonists in former Princess Anne and Norfolk Counties and Virginia's Eastern Shore including Adam Thoroughgood and was a member of the Order of First Families of Virginia, the Jamestown Society, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the National Huguenot Society.

In addition to his widow, he is survived by three daughters and their husbands: Randall Harrison and James Austin Perdew of Overland Park, Kansas, Lucy Levering and Stewart Allen Moneymaker of Palmyra, Virginia, and Mary Ruffin Hanbury and John Francis Oates Jr. of Raleigh, North Carolian; as well as six grandchildren, Harrison Austin Perdew, Charlotte Conwell Phillip, James Nathaniel Perdew, Courtney Alexander Johnson, Talbott Denmead Johnson, and John Francis Oates Ill. He is also survived by his wife's three children, Tracy Overcash Brew, Courtney Overcash Kilpatrick and William Earl Overcash III; and by his cousin and best friend, Ann Hanbury Callis. Also left to mourn his loss are his two beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Sophie and Camilla, his constant companions.

Funeral services at Grace Episcopal Church, Kilmarnock, Virginia, to celebrate John Paul's life with Holy Eucharist will be 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, 2011, with interment at the burying ground of Historic Christ Church.

The family requests that there be absolutely no flowers but encourages memorial contributions to the Grace Trust, P.O. Box 1059, Kilmarnock, VA, 22482-1059, Lee's Friends, 7400 Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk, VA 23505, Randolph College, 2500 Rivermont Avenue, Lynchburg, VA 24503, the local Hospice, or a charity of the donor's choice.

Currie Funeral Home is handling arrangements.


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.