John F. Felter ’54

John F. Felter ’54, retired Navy commander, died at home in Falls Church, Virginia, on February 26. Jack came to Dartmouth from West Springfield (Massachusetts) High School. He obtained a Navy ROTC scholarship, was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and graduated with an A.B. in physics and a commission as a naval officer. He met and courted Priscilla, then studying at Mount Holyoke College, and the couple married in 1957 in Houston. Jack became a pilot in the Navy while earning an M.A. in international relations at George Washington University. He then taught at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. After traveling widely, Jack and Pris settled in Falls Church, where he embarked on a second career at TRW in nearby McLean. Jack had built and flown model airplanes since he was a child, and he became a longtime president of the Capital Area Antique Modelers Association in Northern Virginia. Jack also shared an interest in each of his relatives’ hobbies and avocations as well as art history and gardening with his wife. Jack always was deeply engaged in the well-being and happiness of his family, relatives, and friends. He collected and frequently sent books on every subject of interest to his family and friends. Jack’s unfailingly sunny outlook and loving optimism lifted up and supported the spirits of every person who knew him. He is survived by Priscilla, children Althea and James, and granddaughter Allyssa.


Portfolio

Book cover for Conflict Resilience with blue and orange colors
Alumni Books
New titles from Dartmouth writers (May/June 2025)
Woman wearing collard shirt and blazer
Origin Story
Physicist Sara Imari Walker, Adv’10, goes deep on the emergence of life.
Commencement and Reunions

A sketchbook

Illustration of baseball player swinging a bat
Ben Rice ’22
A New York Yankee on navigating professional baseball

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