John Russell Blackburn Jr. ’44

John Russell Blackburn Jr. ’44 died April 4 at his home in Bedford, Pennsylvania. In 1942 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was trained as a communications officer at Yale University. He served in the Pacific theater with the only bomb group flying the “very heavy” B52 bombers. He graduated Dartmouth in 1946 with a major in physics. He returned to Bedford and joined the family business, Blackburn-Russell Co., as a partner and later president until retiring in 1993. Jack was active in his community, most importantly to him his affiliation with the Memorial Hospital of Bedford County, later part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he served on the board of directors for 53 years, chairman for 22 of those years, until his retirement in 2008. Jack had a private pilot’s license and he and wife Betsy enjoyed their local trips as well as many years of foreign travel.