John Scales '59

2 comments on John Scales '59

1. The college sent me one of those dark notifications about the loss of a classmate on Thursday morning. John Scales passed away on April 14th, after a valiant two year battle with pancreatic cancer.
   Before entering Williams with us in 1955, John had spent his early years in Swarthmore, PA, then moved to Park Ridge, IL, where he attended Maine Township HS. He roomed with Randy Doherty and David Earle in 3 Williams Hall and was part of the active and vocal “Entry A, all the way” gang as we walked to dinner in Baxter Hall. He was a Political Science major, wrote for the RECORD, and was a member of Theta Delta Chi House. During freshman year I was in English class with John and he was an impressive participant who, unlike me, really understood T. S. Eliot’s “Murder in the Cathedral” and “The Love Song of J Alfred Prufock”. The young instructor we had, Al Sloat, who I thought was quite good and alert though I never saw him again after our first year, appreciated John because John had spirit and would venture an answer when the rest of us in timid fashion were ducking down having no idea what was going on. Peter Fessenden remembers his warmth and friendship in the fraternity and the “meticulous way he ran the dining room…..he was such a perfectionist in set ups, he almost drove Bill Lockwood crazy”.
   In September of 1959 John entered Cornell Law School and during the summers he clerked for the Boston firm of Sullivan and Worcester, who snatched him up as an associate upon graduation. During his time in Boston John became involved in the senatorial campaign of Edward Brooke. Once in office, Senator Brooke hired John to serve on the Kerner Commission, which was investigating the many riots that broke out following the assassination of Martin Luther King. John stayed in Washington and became counsel to Senator Jacob Javits and other Republican members of the Senate Labor Committee. Eventually he went into private practice and, for seven years, served as General Counsel for the Peace Corps under both President Reagan and George H W Bush…….at times serving as acting director. Life’s next twist had him working as a Foreign Service officer with USAID (US Agency for International Development) as legal advisor to the regional bureaus for Asia, Latin America, Africa, Europe, Eurasia. At the time of our 50th John wrote, “Currently, I work with LegalLenders, a retained legal search firm in the Washington area, doing partner level recruitment and strategic planning”.
   During the two years John lived in Kazakkstan he met and married Manda McGill, a senior official in the Peace Corps. They lived in Old Town Alexandria, “and enjoyed the many optional recreational, professional, social, and cultural opportunities in the Washington area, as well as common interest in International development and travel.” They maintained a home on Martha’s Vineyard, where they spent many summers and John loved getting out on his boat. During the winter he often traveled to Aspen for “real skiing”. He was a regular attendee and an active member of the Quaker meeting in Washington. John concluded his comments in the 50th reunion book by writing…….”Williams remains a formidable part of my experience that broadened my curiosity . I recall that one of our teachers spoke at graduation and stressed that we should know a little bit about everything, and know one area better than anyone else. I have not succeeded fully in either sense, of course, but it continues to be fun trying and it was great advice for an active and fulfilling life.” My guess is John lived an active and fulfilling life.

2. I remember John as being very friendly and helpful classmate to me, a truly unsophisticated kid from the hinterlands of Eastern Washington State and not at all familiar with the ways of New England. or, for that matter, anything east of the Rocky Mountains. RIP, John.