John Wallace O'Hear

1950 - 2023

John Wallace O'Hear passed away on August 1, 2023 in Huntsville, Alabama after a year-long battle with neuroendocrine carcinoma. His wife and two daughters were with him at the time of his passing.

John was born in Concepcion, Chile on May 23, 1950 to John and June O'Hear. John and his family lived in several US cities during his childhood and he spent a significant portion of his adolescence living in Argentina. He attended the University of Alabama where he obtained both a bachelor's and master's degrees in anthropology.

John joined the faculty of Mississippi State University in 1976 as an archaeologist and curator of research collections at the Cobb Institute of Archaeology. He directed numerous excavation projects of prehistoric Native American sites in the Southeast. John did additional work in Mexico, Jordan, Israel and Cuba at various points in his career.

John was a man of many talents. He had near encyclopedic knowledge of enumerable subjects and loved to give spontaneous history lectures. He could build and fix nearly anything. He loved playing the drums and spent several years playing in the band Musical Malpractice.

John is survived by his wife Nina Peele; daughters Mary and Kathleen and brother Patrick. He is predeceased by his parents and his sister Pamela. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. John was buried at Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, AL.

The family suggests donations to the John O'Hear Memorial Fund at the Archaeologic Conservancy.