JOHN BANKSON Jr.

BANKSON John Palmer Bankson, Jr. Died in Gaithersburg, Maryland June 25, 2021 of end stage Parkinson's disease. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1931 to John Palmer Bankson and Marion Scovill Harris, the family, with his older sister, Sara, moved to Pittsburgh. After attending Shady Side Academy, Johnny moved to the then all-boys St. Paul's School in Concord, NH. He served as acolyte, resident supervisor and Editor of The Pelican, the school paper. St. Paul's School and New England experience became home and perhaps the signal life experience for John. Although undergraduate life at Yale and Law School at Harvard further enriched the already clever and quick student, SPS remained center of his soul to the end. After taking the bar exam, the US Army caught John and brought him to Washington, DC. and counter-intelligence work. Marriage to Martha Bush Bankson and the arrival of Sarah Danforth Bankson and John Palmer Bankson III completed life as it was lived in "the golden age" of peace and adventure. He joined the law firm Miller & Schrader, a firm specializing in Communications Law, which became Miller, Schrader & Bankson. Through the years he was partner at Hamel & Park; Hamel; Park, McCabe & Saunders; Hopkins & Sutter, and retired from Drinker, Biddle & Reath. John served as President of the Federal Communications Bar Association. Second only to serving radio broadcast clients, John found reward in working with newer associates and support staff to help them get started in their careers. John did volunteer and other participatory work at the Washington National Cathedral as a member of the Bishop John Walker's Standing Committee, and serving on the Vestry at Christ Church, Georgetown. In Montgomery County Maryland, John was elected to the Maryland Republican State Central Committee, on which he served as Vice-Chair for four years. He wrote newsletters, testified in Annapolis, managed the party's public relations and participated in the myriad of jobs of the GOP organization including precinct and fundraising work in the days when there were many outstanding Republican officeholders such as Charles "Mac' Mathias, J. Glenn Beall, Gilbert Gude, Newt Steers, Connie Morella, Howie Denis, Max Keeney and many others. He later served on the Montgomery County Charter Review committee. Following the DC city fires at the time of Martin Luther King's assassination John volunteered at St. Stephen's Episcopal church cooking and serving food. He later became a Lay Reader at struggling St. Phillips Episcopal Mission in Aquasco, Maryland helping a fledgling African-American congregation grow stronger. John married Judith Frederick Ford in 1984 and fully welcomed her children, Kathleen, Jim and Kelly Ford into his warm company. A man of many friends, people enjoyed John's infectious sense of humor; occasionally he was so tickled with a situation, he would laugh too hard to tell the story, so friends just caught the laughter without the details. All who knew John knew his value and allegianceto his children, his schools, his political party, his church and his earth. John's two-toned Chevy van in the 1980's spawned numerous teenager queries: "Is that YOUR van?" and his larger RV proved the source of untold joyful adventures. Never was he happier than when out of doors, either camping, riding his bicycle to and from work on the C&P Canal, hiking in the woods, gardening, or building a camp fire. Coming in from the outside always required emptying his pockets of trash, which were inevitably filled with the littering of others, doing his part before it became fashionable. He also enjoyed being a major Mr. FixIt in the house, even if another Mr. FixIt needed to be called later. The Bankson log cabin on the Manassas shores of Lake Jackson in Prince William County, VA was the source of many fix-it projects, the epitome of which was building, with son John, a new dock for the pontoon boat - the best dock on the lake c1995. Allegiance to the Washington Redskins and first the Baltimore Orioles, then the Washington Nationals was steady unless the Steelers or the Pirates were involved. John volunteered for years keeping a section of the Appalachian Trail in southern Pennsylvania free from hazard and trash. Later he was a weekly volunteer with the maintenance crew at the Bull Run National Historic Park in Manassas. A camping trip in the camper van, listening to the Grateful Dead would be his ideal relaxation. After moving to Asbury Methodist Village in later retirement, John participated on campus and in his Park View home especially regarding the Park View dining room, served on the Health and Welfare Partnership Advisory Committee, and kept a garden plot. John is survived by his wife, Judy, his son, John P. Bankson III and wife, Mary Beth Ralston and children, Madeline and Walker Bankson; his son-in-law, Jeff Newton, Avery and Kevin Deisz Newton and great-grandson, Henry, Lindsay Newton, Chase Newton; step-daughter, Kathleen Ford (Ron Circe), Matthew and Jamie Michau and baby Luke, Kelly Ann Michau; step-son, Jim Ford (Libby), Riley Ford, Elias Ford; stepdaughter, Kelly Ford Littman, (Gary), Brooke and Charlie Littman, niece and nephews Marion, Terry, John and Andrew Hunt and many friends. Memorial Service at Asbury Methodist Village, July 12, Guild Memorial Chapel, 1:30 p.m.Memorial Service at Asbury Methodist Village, July 12, Guild Memorial Chapel, 1:30 p.m.