- Date Of Birth: November 2, 1923
- Date Of Death: December 10, 2014
- State: Connecticut
John Walter Maynard, 91, a resident of Middletown for 58 years, beloved husband of Jean (Finley) Maynard of 66 years, passed away on Wednesday, December 10th after an injury and illness. Born in Brooklyn, NY, on November 2, 1923, he was the son of the late J. Paul and Helen (Rose) Maynard and grew up on the south shore of Long Island in Bay Shore. John graduated from Bay Shore High School in 1940 and took a post-graduate year at Wilbraham Academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. John entered Wesleyan University in the fall of 1941. In January 1943, he enlisted in the U. S. Army. His skills as a photographer lead him to be placed in a prisoner-of-war processing company in the South Pacific. As one of General McArthur’s soldiers, he went on shore in the Philippines during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. After a year and a half in the Pacific theater, he returned to the U. S. in January 1946. John returned to Wesleyan and graduated in 1947, then earned his MS degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism in 1948. He worked as a reporter for THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL for seven years. In 1956, he moved to Middletown to be writer and eventually Senior Editor of CURRENT EVENTS, a newspaper for 7th and 8th graders. John also wrote for WEEKLY READER. These school newspapers were read by millions of children all over the United States. He received prizes for Excellence in Educational Journalism from the Educational Press Association of America. John loved bird watching especially along the shoreline and was one of three men who co-founded the Mattabeseck Audubon Society.
Along with his parents, John was predeceased by his older sister, Pauline Larom Kane.
