Posted by Cynthia Ruth Mackert Gadol on November 20, 2022:

Lt. Col. (Ret.) John Rodway Mackert, Sr. of Evans, Georgia, went to be with the Lord on Veterans Day, November 11, 2022, having just celebrated his 95th birthday with his children. In April of 2018, he lost his beloved wife of 68 years, Peggy Parker Mackert, whom he called the love of his life. He will be missed keenly by his surviving family: his son, Dr. John Rodway Mackert, Jr. (Janet L.) of Evans, GA, his daughter, Cynthia Ruth Mackert Gadol (Dr. Louis C.) of Durham, NC, his grandchildren Eric Gadol, John Mackert (Rebecca), Laura Mackert Ernst (Stephen), Evan Gadol, Leah Gadol Cohen (Joshua), Eliot Mackert, Neal Mackert (Larissa), Elise Mackert Morrison (Bryce), and Emily Mackert, and his eight great-grandchildren with another on the way. John was born in Sacramento, California. He lived in southern California from early childhood until moving for about a year to Utah when he was around 15. His family then moved to Macon, Georgia, where he met Peggy when they were both 16. Two months after meeting her, he left to attend Sullivan, a prep school in Washington, DC, for a year. At 17, he entered the USMA at West Point. He graduated from West Point in June, 1949 and married Peggy in December of that year. He served two tours in Korea, the first during the war. He received a Purple Heart after being wounded by shrapnel and was awarded the Silver Star* for "gallantry in action." The second tour was as part of the peacekeeping alliance in 1966. He was stationed in Japan, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Alaska, New York, and Kansas, in addition to being assigned to teach math at West Point twice for a total of six years. He earned Master's degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and New York University while in the Army, from which he retired as a Lt. Colonel after 22 years. He then taught Statistics and Computer Science at the University of Georgia in Athens while working on his PhD, and finished his career doing statistical analysis at the Agricultural Economics department of UGA. The private Graveside service with Military Honors is November 23 in Athens, Georgia. There is a Memorial Service at Lakemont Presbyterian Church, 411 Pleasant Home Rd., Augusta, at 7 pm on Friday, November 25. Another private Memorial Service will be held in Durham, NC. In lieu of flowers the family requests gifts to organizations John supported: Excelsior Classical Academy, 4100 N. Roxboro Street, Durham, NC 27705 (a public North Carolina Charter School). Donations can be made through their capital campaign site, https://www.ecacapitalcampaign.com/giving-opportunities) or sent to the above address; Paralyzed Veterans of America, https://pva.org; or Students for Life of America, https://studentsforlife.org. *https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/108225

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