John Mark Ravage

RAVAGE, John Mark 80, passed away in San Francisco on December 18, 2004. Born in New York City on February 10, 1924, he was the only son and third child of Marcus Eli Ravage and Jeanne Louise Suzanne Martin Ravage. John survived his wife, Anne Elizabeth Tonole, and his sisters, Suzanne Clausen and Louise Trésfort. John lived many places and could recount numerous stories about his experiences in all of them, which left a lasting impression on all who knew him. When he was a toddler, his parents moved the family to Paris, and the children spent summers in Normandy. He acquired English when his mother moved the children to Ithaca, NY in 1933. He worked on farms in the surrounding area during the summers. John enlisted in the Army Air Force during World War II. He completed his B.S. in Zoology at Cornell in 1951. He moved to New York City, where he began a long career of working with words, as a copywriter, a public relations officer, and a marketing director for various firms and educational institutions. He met and married Anne "Nan" Tonole in 1953. In 1957, they moved to Cleveland, OH, where they had two children, Jessie and Ethan. Thereafter they resided in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, and spent summers in Nantucket, Mass. They retired to Savannah, GA in 1989. John and Nan moved to Cloverdale, CA in 2000, where John developed a wide circle of friends through his many activities, including a current events discussion group, a writers' group, swimming, teaching adult literacy, ushering at the Luther Burbank Center, and volunteering to aid political awareness and environmental conservation. He continued traveling vigorously. He visited Prague, hiked the Inca Trail near Machu Picchu, and bicycled in France's Loire Valley. He was enthusiastic and curious; he loved words and delighted in lively discussion; he was deeply attached to friends and family. He is missed. John is survived by his children, Jessie of Cooperstown, NY, son Ethan and daughter-in-law Julia Dawson of San Francisco; several nephews, nieces, grand-nephews and a grand-niece. Gifts may be made in his memory to the World Wildlife Fund, League of Women Voters, the Union of Concerned Scientists or the Adult Literacy League.