John C. Fry

John Craig Fry died from pancreatic cancer in Annapolis, Maryland on March 14, 2016. He was 89 years old.

Growing up in Portland, Oregon and graduating from Severn School, he received a senatorial appointment to the Naval Academy. He was a squash player in the 21st Company, graduating in June 1947 with the Class of 1948. He married Tanya (Toni) Alicia Ojeda in Monterey, California in 1949.

His naval career included surface ships, Civil Administration, post-graduate school, a Navy laboratory, the Navy’s Advanced Science Program, Destroyer Development Group Two, office of the first Oceanographer of the Navy, and the White House. He retired as a Commander in June 1967 after settling his family in Bethesda in 1963.

His civilian career advanced from Vice President Humphrey’s office to the Agency for International Development, the State Department with overseas assignments in Belgium and Sweden, and the National Defense University. He retired as a career senior Foreign Service officer with the rank of Minister-Counselor of the United States of America in October 1988.

He led an adventurous life: floating on a drifting ice island near the North Pole, climbing Mount Fuji with his sons, rooming at a French Foreign Legion fort in Timbuktu, and sailing by cargo ship around the world. In retirement, he and Toni lived at Fry House, 173 Prince George Street in Annapolis for 22 years. They traveled widely and enjoyed family gatherings, especially at their golden pond home on Hilton Head Island. As a veteran runner, he won four (2005-2008) Annapolis 10-miler “Fastest Oldest Goat” awards. They moved their main home to Ginger Cove in Annapolis in 2009.

He received a Superior Honor Award in 1972. While a Senior Fellow at the National Defense University, he authored Negotiating Security and Cooperation in Europe. He was a member of Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired (DACOR), a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, VA, an Admiral in the Smithsonian Navy, a NATO scholar, a Counselor in Boy Scouts, an emeritus member of Sigma Xi, and publisher of Ginger Cove’s Literary Lite. He is survived by his beloved wife, three admirable sons,John,Jr. (Robin)of Gig Harbor, WA, David and Matthew (Mary Ann)of Aiken, S.C. and five wonderful grandchildren, Christopher, Nicholas, Matthew, Haley and Kirsten.