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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly May '91
John William Nance No.16014 Class of 1946
Died 8 August 1986 in Louisville, Kentucky, aged 62 years. Interment:
West Point Cemetery, West Point, New York.
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John William Nance was born on 24 December 1923,
the son of Samuel and Prudence Nance, residents of the northern
Arkansas town of Jasper. John attended grade school and part
of his high school years in Jasper, but later moved with his
parents to Harrison, Arkansas, where he was graduated from Harrison
High School in 1941. Being a loyal Razorback, John next stopped
at the University of Arkansas, which he attended for two years
prior to receiving a Congressional appointment to USMA in 1943.
John eased through his West Point years with little
noticeable effort. A few hours on the area quickly convinced
him that that activity was a waste of good sack time. Academics
presented no problems for John, and few of his friends can recall
his burning the midnight oil. If the Class of '46 had a "natural"
in its midst, "Big John" would eminently qualify. From
firing "Expert" with the M-1 to hitting baseballs to
shooting basketballs, John was a magnificent athlete. Some might
remember his after-Taps escapades, but many will remember his
athletic prowess which brought him major "A"s in baseball
and basketball for three years and the captaincy of the basketball
team his first class year.
Following graduation in June 1946, John attended
the Infantry Officers Basic Course, along with his Infantry compatriots,
at Fort Benning, Georgia. It was there that he married Patricia
Vars, a Long Islander, who had dated John at West Point and whose
red Buick convertible had made her the envy of the Academy. The
Vars family was good to many a cadet, with bed-and-breakfast
and a hurried ride to the bus Station for the return trip to
USMA.
Their being together was short-lived, however,
as John was posted to Korea in the summer of 1947 to serve with
the 32nd Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division, in the Army of
Occupation. John managed, with great aplomb, the difficulties
of life in Korea for the next 18 months, performing the usual
duties as a lieutenant of Infantry and playing on the division
baseball and basketball teams.
Upon returning from Korea, John and Pat were stationed
at Fort Lewis, Washington with the 2nd Infantry Division. Here
they started a family, which subsequently grew to four sons:
Glenen Vars (Class of 1973, USMA); John Lee (Class of 1975, USMA);
William Hudson; and Geoffrey King. John later coached, with great
expertise, his young sons in all their Little League activities.
Pat and John were again separated when the 2nd
Infantry Division was sent to Korea to fight in the Korean War.
These were rough times for the troops, but John did well in engagements
along the Naktong River and the Pusan perimeter, serving as a
heavy mortar company commander, and lastly, as aide to the division
commander.
Upon his return to the States, John was sent to
the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia to serve as an officer
candidate company commander, which was followed by a tour as
battalion supply officer. Upon completing the Advanced Course,
John and Pat went to Newfoundland, where John served on a combined
staff. Although the fishing was good, John decided to test civilian
waters, and in 1955 he resigned his commission. He and Pat settled
in Glen Head, Long Island, where he joined the Vars Buick Agency.
Along with his business interests, John became
active in local politics, running for county supervisor. He had
the perception to foresee the foreign car market's future by
establishing a company in Manhasset. Later John's entrepreneurial
leanings turned to other fields, such as cable television, and
he became a manufacturer's rep for major U.S. companies. With
his innovative mind and mechanical ability, on many occasions
he tinkered with a "new invention" for his horse barn
or designed automotive improvements.
In the late sixties John and Pat were divorced,
and Pat remained on Long Island, where she eventually opened
a travel agency. John remarried, and he and Claire, his new wife,
moved to Winchester, Virginia, where he opened a Buick automobile
agency. In later years, John and Claire resided in Louisville,
Kentucky.
John died on 8 August 1986 at the Veterans Hospital,
Louisville, Kentucky. He was buried at West Point on 5 September.
His four sons survive him, and the Nance name carries on with
his sons and grandchildren. This talented companion is missed
by his many loyal friends.
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