John J. Harmon

John Jason Harmon passed away peacefully on Wednesday morning, August 18, 2010 at the Episcopal Church Home. He was surrounded by family and dear friends for the last eight months after a fall in his home.
John was born in 1921 in Connecticut. His education included a Montessori School in England; a private school in Italy; public school in Westport, Connecticut; The Choir School of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine; and Trinity School in New York City. He graduated Princeton University (Class of 1942), and Episcopal Divinity School in 1950.
He served with the American Field Service (1942 to 1945) attached to the British Army as an ambulance driver, mechanic, then 2nd in command of a Company of 132 ambulances. He served in North Africa and Europe. He was in Germany for the closure of the death camp at Bergen Belsen. He left AFS as a Captain and was made an Honorary Member of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
John took a short leave from the war to marry his true love and life partner, Nicky (Jane Sutherland Tuttle of Atlanta, Georgia). At Nicky's death in 2005, they had been married 61 years.
John was ordained in 1950 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Rochester NY. He was Rector of St John's Church, Roxbury MA, then Associate Director, Packard Manse, an ecumenical/social justice organization in Boston MA. In 1970, the Harmons moved back to Rochester and John served as the Patient Ombudsman & Director of Patient Relations, Strong Memorial Hospital.
John was a life time advocate for human rights and peace. As Treasurer of the Massachusetts chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), John raised funds for SCLC chapters in the South. He was driven off the road by the Klan and jailed by the police in Williamston NC. John was one of the organizers of the Fast For Peace in 1970 in front of the White House. In Boston, he was "collared" by the police as he tried to keep the peace in front of Arlington St Church which had granted sanctuary to a draft resister. He continued his social justice work in Rochester, and was active in the Abundance Coop and St Luke and St Simon Cyrene Episcopal Church. Throughout the 1970s, John was a performing member of the Bach Festival Chorus, Rochester Oratorio Society Chorus, and Eastman-Rochester Chorus.
John is survived by his daughters Betsy (Bruce), Cappy (Bill), Sara (Michael) and Peggy (Rick); his grandchildren Jocelyn, Quaker, Merrick, John, and Blanche; and his great grandchildren Samuel, Alex, Talli, Tatum and Nolan.
Many thanks to River Edge Manor, Episcopal Church Home, and Lifetime Care (Hospice).
A celebration of John's life will be held Saturday, August 28th , 10:30 am at Episcopal Church of St. Luke & St. Simon Cyrene, 17 S Fitzhugh St. Rochester NY. Reception and tea will follow. Please make a donation in John's memory to a cause you support.