Posted by Don Keith (posted by Joe Gilbreth) on June 26, 2005:

John Magnotti was a classmate, a company mate and a roommate at West Point. Like so many of us who entered the Academy in 1945, he had already begun to serve his country during World War II. After graduating from high school in Pittsburgh, he enlisted in the Army and was sent to Carnegie Institute of Technology to study electrical engineering. After two years, the program was shut down, and he was sent to London as a Signal Corps radio operator. John often recalled sending and receiving D-Day transmissions on that fateful day. While in England he received a Congressional appointment to West Point and later joined the class of 1949. John was an active cadet. He was an accomplished musician and sang in the Catholic Chapel Choir all four years. He was an avid squash and handball player, and he served on the Howitzer yearbook for three years. But probably most important of all, he met TC -- the love of his life -- early in his cadet days, and they were married as soon as possible after graduation. After the Armor basic course, John and TC went to the famed 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment on the border between east and West Germany. This was followed by more military schooling and troop duty with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions, and a tour in Viet Nam. When he returned he became an assignment officer for Armor officers until he retired from active duty in 1968. But this was only the first chapter of John's professional career. He had already obtained a master's degree in government and politics while on active duty, so he was well prepared to join Planning Research Corporation as an assistant vice-president. During his six years there he received his doctorate in public administration. Then, with his chacteristic vim and vigor John went to work on Ronald Reagan's campaign team for nearly two years. After the election, BDM corporation, a major defense-related think-tank, made John their vice-president for administration. The third major chapter in his professional life was academia. In 1981 he joined the Kogood College of Business Administration at American University, where he was the director of the procurement management program. While there he founded the prestigious Procurement Round Table, where senior executives from both government and industry addressed policy issues. He retired from the university in 1994 and was made a Professor Emeritus. But being retired-retired was not the John Magnotti that we all knew and loved. An avid yachtsman, he and TC had spent a lot of their time together on their various boats and as members of the Chesapeake Yacht Club. So they moved to Shady Side, MD to be on the water. With more time on his hands, John stayed engaged with pro bono work as president of the Shady Side Civic Association and was president of our West Point class association at the time of his tragic death. John, we are all going to miss your energy, friendship and leadership, none more than TC and daughters Susan and Mary. But we can all celebrate the very full life of John Magnotti on this earth and feel the appropriateness of the closing line of our Alma Mater: "... and when our work is done, our course on earth is run, may it be said well done; be thou at peace." God bless you and keep you, John, until we meet again. Don keith

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