John Yocom

1922 - 2023

John Yocom

Hanover, NH - Less than 1% of the American men and women who were called to serve during World War ll are still living. John Yocom was one of those few surviving veterans until his recent passing on May 2, 2023 at age 100. It was 80 years ago that John was drafted into the infantry. He had just transferred from his hometown college in Oberlin, Ohio to MIT, hoping to become a chemical engineer. And like so many before him and since, a war marked a break in what had been a rather idyllic life. After basic training, he landed on the beach at Normandy the following year, just four months after D-Day. When he finally returned home in 1946, he was grateful to get back to the life that he had started. For the next 60 years he processed his war experiences alone. Eventually he would share stories and write extensively about the terrors of being a young infantryman surviving the Battle of the Bulge, the deadly five week battle fought in bitter winter conditions with inadequate supplies and clothing. In his 80's, he finally started wearing a WWII Veterans hat, realizing that when he wore it he invariably got kisses from admiring women.

John Erwin Yocom was born in Oberlin, Ohio on November 20, 1922. He was the second son of Charles Herbert Yocom and Mary Inez Willis Yocom. He had an older brother Willis and a younger sister Patty. He and his siblings had a wonderful childhood surrounded by extended family. His father and uncle ran the Yocom Brothers Store (dry goods) for many years. John and his siblings were blessed with the family sense of humor, often getting caught up in creative pranks with them. He enjoyed many interests and hobbies throughout his long life, many of them formed during his Oberlin childhood. While studying piano as a young teenager, he realized he loved J.S. Bach. He would eventually read extensively about Bach's life. Years later he would build a harpsichord. When he wasn't tuning it, he enjoyed playing Bach and the many other Baroque composers he loved, often talking his daughter into joining him for flute sonatas. He also became interested in woodworking at an early age, dulling his mother's paring knives as he designed and crafted balsa wood gliders. He was an avid young fisherman, a lifelong passion wherever he lived. His interest in woodworking would not only produce the harpsichord but 2 strip bark canoes, turned wooden bowls from burls he liked to find in the woods, outdoor decks, outhouses, work benches, cabins and wooden storage boxes for his extensive collection of photography slides. He built his own darkroom for developing thousands of black and white photos. He enjoyed vegetable gardening and fondly remembered the wonders of freshly picked Ohio sweet corn and the need to run the corn back to the kitchen where a pot of water was already boiling. In his later years he liked to grow kohlrabi at his camp garden in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. He loved baking apple pies.

After returning from the war, John was able to finish his college education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, thanks to the G. I. Bill. He became a chemical engineer after discovering he loved organic chemistry while in high school. It was during his time in Boston that he had a defining moment at a mixer for young adults. Men and women were placed in opposing lines, facing away from each other. When the music started, they began dancing backwards. He backed into Elizabeth (Betty) Clifford and, he always said, he "liked what he felt." John and Betty were married December 21, 1947. They were able to celebrate their 75th anniversary together this past year. His first job was with the Battelle Institute in Columbus, Ohio. It was in Columbus that he and Betty began their lifelong interest in church choirs, helping them to make lasting friends wherever they later lived. Their daughter, Judy, was born in Columbus.

John's interest in outdoor (and later indoor) air quality led the family to California where John was instrumental in forming the Bay Area Air Pollution Control District in San Francisco in 1957. John and Betty loved their time living in Marin County. They tried new foods and wines that neither had ever experienced, or even heard of. John, the fisherman, not only had new rivers and lakes for fly fishing, but he was able to try surf casting in the Pacific Ocean, happily catching and grilling striped bass. They joined the Sierra Club and lead camping and canoeing trips, visiting most of our country's western National Parks. And they continued to sing, forming a madrigal/recorder group among their friends. It was a hard decision for them to leave California in 1965 when a new job at Kaiser Research demanded extensive travel periods away from home. He accepted a job at the Travelers Research Corporation in Hartford, CT. He was later instrumental in forming The Research Corporation of New England. John loved his work as an air quality engineer, taking on select consulting jobs long past the usual retirement age that enabled him to visit projects sites as far afield as Alaska, Morocco and Russia. He and Betty spent 50 years living in Simsbury, CT. Again they made wonderful friends with whom they shared music and travel. In 2016 they moved to Kendal at Hanover to be near their Upper Valley family.

John is survived by Betty, his wife of 75 years, of Kendal at Hanover, his daughter Judy Yocom and her husband Michael Shoob, of Thetford, Vermont, his grandson Casey Huling and his wife Marianne St-Laurent also of Thetford, and his granddaughter, Kate Huling and her husband Andrew Tarlow of Brooklyn, NY. John's longevity allowed him to know and revel in all of his 7 great-grandchildren: Elijah, Béa, Roman, Lucca, Cecilia, Paloma, and Charlie, and he loved being the uncle to 3 nieces and 2 nephews. Throughout his life he frequently expressed his love and gratitude for his family.

John is buried at the Pine Knoll Cemetery in Hanover. Rand Wilson Funeral Home provided him with his request for "as green a burial" as they were able. There is no memorial planned at this time. The family wishes to thank those at the VA Hospital in WRJ and the staff at Kendal at Hanover for providing John with exceptional loving care and respect in his last months.