John William Whitehead

Dr. John W.F. Whitehead of Newtown, PA passed away peacefully aged 64 on January 17th., 2026 after a brave battle with cancer. He was surrounded by friends, and is survived by two brothers, Lance and Andrew.

John was born in Tenterden, Kent but grew up on the family farm on the Isle of Wight. He was a unique and talented character who enjoyed a successful career in drug discovery. He won a scholarship to study chemistry at The Queens College in 1979 and then completed his D.Phil. at the University of Oxford in 1986. He joined Glaxo Group Research in Ware, Herts., U.K., as a Senior Research Chemist, providing inventive input to 5-HT projects. While living in Hertfordshire he served for a decade at St. Paul's Cathedral and became a Freeman of the City of London in recognition of his remarkable contribution to that church.

In 1996, John took up a position with Napp Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, U.K. and after 4 years, he transferred to Purdue Pharma in Cranbury, NJ, U.S.A., where he was appointed a Senior Principal Scientist. At Purdue he worked on pain projects involving peripheral mu agonists and ORL-1 agonists. He settled in Newtown, PA, where he bought a Victorian home.

John had retired from drug discovery when he passed, but spent a lot of his time researching history, an area in which he also excelled, and took part in many battle re-enactments in PA. He exhibited great expertise as a collector of antique coins, clocks, books as well as furniture which brought him great satisfaction. He was an active member of the Newtown Historical Association.

John's funeral is scheduled for Friday, February 6th., 11.00 AM at St. Luke's Church, 100 East Washington Avenue, Newtown, PA 18940.