The Honorable John Eugene “Jack” Sheehan, 84

October 30, 2014

The Honorable John E. Sheehan, “Jack,” formerly of Washington, D.C. and Annapolis, MD, died on Thursday, October 30, 2014 at Lakeside in Willow Street, PA. He was 84 years old.

Born in Johnstown, PA on December 11, 1929, Jack was the seventh of ten children of the late Louis A. and Frances Ethel (Schaefer) Sheehan. Jack attended the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown prior to receiving an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, and graduated from the Academy in June 1952.

Upon graduation, Jack entered Navy flight training in Pensacola, FL. After winning his wings and completing advanced flight training, he was a carrier-based jet fighter pilot assigned to Fighter and later Attack Squadron-72 in Quonset Point, RI, flying the F9F-5 “Panther” jet, and later the A4D-1 “Skyhawk,” a nuclear weapons delivery platform. From 1956-58 Jack served as Aide to ADM C. Donald Griffin, USN.

In 1958, Jack resigned his commission to enter the Harvard Business School where he earned his MBA in 1960, graduating 12th in a class of 800 as a George F. Baker Scholar.

Jack began his career at the management consulting firm of McKinsey & Company in New York City. He went on to serve in senior executive positions for several Fortune 500 companies. In 1971, he was appointed as a director of the Louisville branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. This appointment gained the attention of federal government officials and led to his appointment by President Nixon to the seven member Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central bank in Washington, DC, an appointment confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

While at the “Fed,” Governor Sheehan served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board’s Committee on Federal Reserve Bank Activities, and was assigned the job managing the system and reducing its costs of operation. In this role, he directed and achieved operating efficiencies, including changes to its check processing system, that netted the Federal Reserve over $200 million in improved performance in 1974. Dr. Jeffrey M. Bucher, a fellow governor who served with Jack, credited him with “having made a greater contribution to the Federal Reserve day for day than any other Governor since 1913,” the year of its founding.

After four years’ service with the “Fed,” in 1975 Jack re-enter the private sector, and, over the next 28 years, was an entrepreneur and investor. He acquired and built numerous businesses, primarily in manufacturing and steel-related activities. Even in private life, Jack had an eye towards public service. Four of his buyouts were of manufacturing operations in distressed communities that were closed or nearly closed when Jack became involved. Jack’s vision and entrepreneurship resulted directly in literally thousands of jobs saved and created. In formal recognition of his extraordinary and successful effort to re-start the abandoned U.S. Steel Works in Johnstown, PA, Jack was the 1990 recipient of the W. Louis Coppersmith Humanitarian Award of the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation League.

Jack also served on the boards of publicly traded companies Prime Computer, Crown American, and Iomega Corporation.

In recent years, Jack private business activities were focused in Korns Galvanizing Company, today a thriving business located in the Moxham section of Johnstown, PA. Jack served as Chairman of its Board, and was appointed Director Emeritus in May 2014. By Jack’s instruction, Korns continues to provide employment opportunities and training to individuals with prison records and other challenging backgrounds, and in 2013 was named “Employer of the Year for Exceptional Service and Collaboration” by Goodwill Industries of the Conemaugh Valley. Jack believed in second chances.

Jack’s devotion to the Naval Academy was expressed in 16 years of dedicated service to the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, starting in 1988 as a member of its Board of Trustees. In 1995, Jack was elected to a term as Chairman of the Board. As Chairman, Jack laid the groundwork for and played a critical role in the founding of the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Naval Academy. In 2003, Jack was awarded a Commendation for Outstanding Service to the USNA Alumni Association and the USNA Foundation.

Jack has also been a member of the Executive Committee of the Associates of the Harvard Business School (Board of Visitors); the Board of Directors of
The Foundation for the National Archives; the Chief Executives Organization; and Legatus. Jack was an avid reader and Civil War buff.

Jack is survived by his wife of 58 years, the former Jean McEvers of Kansas City, whose brother, Robert M. McEvers was Jack’s roommate at the Academy. Surviving in addition to his wife Jean are three children: Kathleen Sheehan Ortel of Annapolis, MD; John Kevin Sheehan, husband of Kathleen, of Belmont, MA; and Carolyn Kelly Sheehan Silletto, wife of David, of Teaneck, NJ; six grandchildren: Carolyn Kelly Ortel; John Henry McEvers Ortel; James Austin Carlos Ortel; Henry Dillon Sheehan; Rose Ann Silletto and Eliza Jean Silletto; a sister, Joanne Smith of Mechanicsburg, PA, and a brother, CAPT James Sheehan USN (ret), husband of Susan, of Chesapeake, VA.

A funeral mass will take place at 10:30 am on Monday, November 10, 2014, in the Chapel of the United States Naval Academy. Interment with Military Honors will follow immediately in the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, Attn: Tribute Gifts, 291 Beach Hall, Annapolis, MD 21402, or to the Harry Adler and Lois Coppersmith Memorial Renaissance Scholarship, Penn State University, 1 Old Main, University Park, PA 16802.