IN LOVING MEMORY OF
John F.
Blaser
December 11, 1919 – December 8, 2005
Obituary
John Blaser
John F. Blaser, 85, a resident of Washington, D.C. for 63 years and formerly of Wheaton and Annapolis, died of chronic lymphatic lymphoma Dec. 8 at Anne Arundel Medical Center after a three-year illness.
Mr. Blaser was born Dec. 11, 1919, in New York and reared in the Bronx. He attended Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y. and served in the Navy from September 1943 to December 1945, where he was stationed in Rhode Island, Hawaii and Kwajalein Island in the Marshal Islands.
Engineering Draftsman, in the Naval Gun Factory.
He took a short break from 1943 to 1945 to serve with the Seabees in the
Pacific Southwest, most notably on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshal Islands.
The Seabees were tasked with using their specialized construction skills
learned as civilians, along with military and combat skills taught by the
Navy, to make way by paving airstrips and roads across the battlefields of
World War II. They could be found building airstrips, roads and camps
within hours of when invasions had started, quite often working under fire.
John Blaser returned home from the Seabees to join his wife, Ronnie, and the
Navy Dept. In 1949, he began a series of interagency transfers and
promotions that allowed him to work as a mechanical engineer for many
interrelated Naval Divisions, including the Bureau of Ships, the Bureau of
Ordinance, the Bureau of Naval Weapons, Naval Ordinance Systems Command, and
the Naval Sea Systems. John not only designed naval weapon systems for
ships; early on he was part of a team that introduced the use of computers
on shipboard. John also had the pleasure of serving as the U.S.
Representative to the NATO Information Exchange Group, which allowed him to
travel around the world to attend NATO conferences.
On February 24, 1977; John Blaser retired from his position as the
Production manager in the AEGIS project, and acting Deputy Director over the
AEGIS Systems. The following Monday, John began working for Vitro
Corporation in Rockville, MD, where he preformed many of the same duties he
had with the Navy. While working for Vitro, John's wife Ronnie would
sometimes accompanied him to the NATO conferences, taking the opportunity to
sightsee while John was in his meetings.
His wife, Veronica Blaser, predeceased him. Surviving are five sons, John T. Blaster of Annapolis, Peter Blaser of Damascus, Md., Timothy Blaser of Frederick, Md., Thomas Blaser of Nokesville, Va. and Robert Blaser of Deale; two daughters, Sr. Mariellen Blaser of Albany, N.Y. and Margaret Joseph of Annapolis; 15 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. tomorrow at Barranco and Sons Severna Park Funeral Home, 495 Ritchie Highway, Severna Park. Services will be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday at St. Andrews by the Bay Catholic Church, 701 College Parkway, Annapolis. Burial is private.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Sisters of the Holy Names, Providence Administration, 1061 New Scotland Ave., Albany, NY 12208. Online condolences can be made at www.barrancofuneralhome.com.
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