John Decourcy Wernette

Naples - John Wernette, 82, of Naples Florida passed away suddenly on September 8, 2025. John was born in Washington, DC on June 11, 1943, and raised in Ann Arbor Michigan. John graduated from Harvard in 1964 with plans to be a lawyer. After deciding that it was not the profession for him, he enrolled in the US Naval Officers Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island in 1966 and graduated as an Ensign. Most of his duty was spent as a Minesweep Engineering Officer in the Mediterranean and an Intelligence Officer. After leaving the Navy as a Lieutenant JG in 1969, he joined Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati in their Professional Marketing Division. He moved 10 years later to the Professional Marketing Division of McNeil Consumer Products Company in Ft. Washington, PA. He will never forget being part of the Tylenol Tampering Case team. Soon after joining McNeil, he met Beverly Farber, the love of his life. After a whirlwind courtship they married, lived in Gwynedd PA and vacationed at their home in Cape May., NJ. John always considered them "Team Wernette". They retired to Naples 21 years ago, living in Pelican Bay and celebrating 45 years of marriage.

John leaves a legacy of love, compassion, and contribution. John always believed in giving back and participated in many causes. He served on community boards, built houses for Habitat for Humanity, and volunteered at St. Mathews Boutique. He loved to swim and was on the Harvard Swim Team. He still wore a Harvard Swimming T-shirt! He swam Masters and, with two friends, swam in the Gulf at Pelican Bay every Saturday morning. He supported Harvard, except for football when the Wolverines were his team. John was an oenophile. He and Beverly belonged to a serious wine group in Philadelphia and traveled to all the major wine regions in Europe. He was on the Board of the Food and Wine Society in Naples and taught wine classes in Naples privately and through the FGCU Renaissance Academy. John and Beverly enjoyed traveling and have seen much of the world. Always an amateur photographer, he started taking painting lessons in 2015. After moving to Moorings Park Grande Lake in 2023, he especially enjoyed their art class.

He was predeceased by his parents, Eleanor and J. Philip Wernette, a Business Professor at the University of Michigan. In addition to Beverly, he is survived by his sister, Betsy DeCourcy- Wernette, and her husband, Chris Romney of Simpsonville, SC, and his nephews, Brendan Elliott and James Romney along with other relatives.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on September 26 at 10 AM at St. William Catholic Church in Naples. Interment will be at the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Palmerton, PA.

Memorial Donations may be made to Gulfshore Opera, 9911 Corkscrew Rd., Suite105, Estero, FL33928 or St. Mathews House, 2601 Airport Rd S, Naples 34112