John Whitney Obituary

John Whitney BETHESDA, MD- John Adair Whitney, 93, of Bethesda, Maryland, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family October 12, 2025. John was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, January 25, 1932, the youngest son of Dr. Nathaniel Ruggles Whitney, Chief Economist for Procter and Gamble, and Helen Loos Whitney. He grew up in the historic village of Glendale, Ohio, with frequent visits to the family apartment in Washington, D.C., during the 1940s while his father was an advisor to the Roosevelt administration. From boyhood, John was an avid outdoorsman and athlete, cherishing his summer camp memories of sailing at the Boothbay Camp in Maine and canoeing and camping at Camp Keewaydin on Lake Temagami in Ontario, Canada. Following graduation from Williams College in 1953, where he excelled academically and played on the lacrosse team, John graduated from Harvard Law School in 1956 with an LL.B. While at Harvard, he met Linda Leary, a new Mt. Holyoke graduate working as the assistant to McGeorge Bundy, Dean of Harvard College, and they were married in December 1956. Shortly thereafter, John and Linda moved to the Washington area, where he began his legal career in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General Corps at the Pentagon. A few years later, he joined the family law firm Pope, Ballard, and Loos, becoming a partner in the D.C. office. He was elected to the Maryland legislature in 1967, serving in the House of Delegates and representing Montgomery County there until 1970. Meanwhile, he took a new position on the executive team at NASA as Chief Procurement Counsel during the heyday of the Apollo Space Program, where he led a team of 10 lawyers drafting the contracts for the design and manufacture of the spacecraft and lunar modules for the Apollo moon landings and the space shuttle. Following his trailblazing stint at NASA, he rejoined Pope, Ballard, and Loos, focusing his work on government contracts and helping navigate the firm's merger with Holland and Knight in 1982, following which he became a senior partner in Holland and Knight's Washington office. In the latter part of his career, he became a partner in Storch and Brenner, which in 2001 became the Washington office of Dilworth Paxson. Although John had an extraordinary and distinguished career in law and public service, the focus and joy of his life was his family, which he always made his top priority. Whether cheering on daughters, Jane and Anne at swim meets or tennis matches at the Edgemoor Club or applauding son, Bill's quarterback skills at Sidwell Friends, John was so proud of his children and grandchildren and loved spending time with them, making treasured memories on active family vacations and delightful beach gatherings in their summer home in Sea Girt, New Jersey. Once the children were grown, he and Linda continued their love of adventure and travel, enjoying everything from strenuous biking vacations through Provence to glamping in the desert of Morocco, always with binoculars at the ready to check out the local birds, and traveling far and wide so as to never miss a graduation or major event for their children and grandchildren. They were fixtures on the tennis courts at Edgemoor, and John continued his passion for squash, relishing his weekly game with his friends at the University Club well into his 80s. An incorrigible punster, his love for language manifested itself in his daily work on crossword puzzles and his love for the several book clubs in which he participated. John believed strongly in gratitude and giving back. He was an active member of Bethesda Presbyterian Church, where he sang in the choir for decades. He and Linda regularly set aside time to serve as volunteer readers for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D), and John was a Board member and enthusiastic advocate for Bethesda Cares, a ministry to the homeless which provides meals, shelter, and counseling. Among numerous other charities he supported, John was deeply committed to the Nature Conservancy and was instrumental, along with his niece and nephew, in forming the 4,500 acre Whitney Preserve in the Black Hills of South Dakota. For the past several years, John resided at Maplewood Park Place, where he served on the Co-Op Board, and which he prized for the warmth and kindness of the community and its staff. He was a member of the Maryland and D.C. Bar, the American Judicature Society, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Edgemoor Club, and the University Club. John was predeceased by his wife, Linda and his son, William Nathaniel (Bill) Whitney, as well as his three brothers, Nathaniel Ruggles Whitney, Dickson Loos Whitney, and James Bradish Whitney. He is survived by his daughters, Jane Whitney McGreevy (Brian), Anne Whitney Marculewicz (Stefan), and daughter-in-law, Dr. Rondalyn Varney Whitney; his grandchildren, John Whitney McGreevy (Mary Pat), Zachary Alton Whitney (Kimmy), Amy McGreevy Rabb (Michael), Mary Hollis McGreevy Bonnoitt (Mark), LTJG Charles Brooks Marculewicz, Anne Lefevre McGreevy, 1st Lt. Benjamin Whitney Marculewicz, and Alexander Adair Whitney; and his great-grandchildren, Jackson McGreevy, Mary Dargan (Mamie) McGreevy, John Henry McGreevy, and John Woodson (Woods) Rabb. A memorial service will be held at Bethesda Presbyterian Church at 1 p.m. Saturday, October 25, followed by a reception at the Edgemoor Club. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Whitney Preserve/Nature Conservancy c/o Julie Brazell, 28077 Cascade Road, Hot Springs, SD 57730 ([email protected]) or Bethesda Cares, 7728 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814 (bethesdacares.org).