It
is with great regret and sorrow that I must notify you of the death of our
classmate, John Solomon, on March 30, 2020, in Fredericksburg, VA, after a long,
valiant battle with Parkinson’s disease.
John is survived by his wife, Mary Jane; their daughter, Mary Anne (Molly) and
her husband Geoff Russell; their son, Christopher; their daughter, Mary
Katherine (Katy) and her husband, Spencer Jones; and their grandchildren,
Campbell Jones, Hayden Jones, and triplets, Jonathon,
Alexandra, and Madeleine Russell.
John Solomon's funeral mass will
be at 11 AM, Tuesday, 28 July at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 9149 Elys Ford Rd,
Fredericksburg, VA 22407. Attendance at the church is limited to 100 people.
Face masks are recommended. St. Patrick's will video the funeral mass. I will
provide the link when available. Mary Jane will host an outdoor reception at
her home, 10907 Cedar Creek Drive, Spotsylvania, VA 22551-4687,
following the mass. Please let me know by reply email if you plan to attend.
Burial will be at Arlington
National Cemetery at 11 AM, Wednesday, 29 July. Attendance at the gravesite is
limited to 50 people. Those attending should meet at the designated
Administration Building parking lane at 10:15. Attendees must wear face
coverings and maintain social distance guidelines. Please let me know by reply
EMAIL if you plan to attend.
Further details can be found at https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Media/News /Post/10863/Arlington-National-Cemetery-Implements-Military-Funeral-Honors-with-Modified-Escort-and-Increases-Funeral-Participation.
Please pay particular attention to the requirements for face coverings and ID
cards.
Out of an abundance of caution,
the family regrets that it has cancelled the reception following burial due to
the coronavirus pandemic.
Condolences may be sent to Mary Jane and her family at 10907 Cedar Creek Drive,
Spotsylvania, VA 22351.
Well done, John. Be thou at peace.
Remembrances:
Class Memorial Pages\G-1 John Solomon.pdf
In Memory
John Solomon ('61) -
Class Of 1961 |

Mail Address for Mary Jane Solomon: 10907 Cedar Creek Drive,
Spotsylvania, VA, 22551
John's obituary follows this previously posted information.
In the meantime, please enjoy some of the creative talents of my
good friend and Executive Producer Emeritus of the West Point Alumni
Glee Club, John Solomon: grandfather, father, husband, soldier,
author, composer, musician, friend and mentor.
The picture is of John directing the WPAGC in rehearsal prior to
singing for a major event in 2015
During cadet days, John was part of the "Spirits," writing,
arranging and singing many of their songs. Here is a small example.
Music is an original recording. We apologize for the video quality.
Effects of time!
The Spirits (Click this for more)
In 2015 at the passing of Al Bornmann, USMA '67, John wrote the
following poem to honor Al's (and many others) service to our
country. His words are fully applicable to John and his life of
service.
.
Rest in peace John. "Well Done!"
Colonel John K. Solomon, (Ret), 81, passed away at
his home in Central Virginia after a long battle with Parkinson’s
disease.
He was born at Ft. Bliss, Texas and raised in a military family.
Following graduations from high school in Paris, France, he entered
the Army Reserves. John attended the USMA Prep school and graduated
from West Point in 1961. He received his Master’s Degree in
Mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. John attended the
US Arm Artillery & Missile School, the US Marine Corps Command and
Staff College, and the US Army War College.
John’s military assignments included: Corporal and Sergeant
Systems, Vicenza, Italy; 105 Howitzer Command, Fort Sill, Oklahoma;
Operations Officer, Americal Division; Artillery Direct Support 105mm
Howitzer Battalion, Republic of View Nam; Battalion Command Lance
Missile System, Crailsheim, Germany; Assistant Professor of
Mathematics; Regimental Tactical Officer, USMA; The Joint Staff; Ops
and Plans, SETAF, Vicenza, Italy; Department of Army Staff; The
Washington Liaison Office, The Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force.
Decorations include: The Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with
Oak Leaf Cluster, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious
Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal, National Defense
Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Vietnam
Cross of Gallantry with Bronze Star, Vietnam Cross Unit Citation with
Palm, Parachutist Badge, Army Ranger Tab, Army General Staff Badge,
and Joint Chiefs Staff Badge.
Following his military career, John joined the Thomas Jefferson
High School for Science and Technology Faculty, Alexandria, where he
taught mathematics and directed the school’s Mentorship Program until
he retired in 2004.
In addition to his overall achievements, music and theater were his
hobbies. The family unit was always a primary focus in his thoughts.
Every day was a new adventure and educational experience whether
traveling off to a new destination or on an athletic field. Everyone
was taught to do their best, develop and appreciate all the God given
talents. Respect, admiration, counsel, and enthusiasm were always
present. Prayerfully, his shining example will be handed down to his
dynasty.
John was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He is survived
by his wife, Mary Jane; his son, Christopher, Winthrop, Washington;
his daughters, Mary Anne (Molly) Solomon, and Husband Geoffrey
Russell, Winter Park, Florida, and Mary Katherine (Kate), and husband
Spencer Jones, Longwood, Florida; five grandchildren, his brothers,
Colonel Wm. V. Solomon (USA Ret) Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and James H.
Solomon, Vienna, Virginia. John was preceded in death by his parents,
Brigadier General M.A. Solomon (USA Ret) and his wife Molly Solomon.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, July 28 at St.
Patrick Catholic Church, 9151 Elys Ford Road, Spotsylvania.
Interment will take place on Wednesday, July 29 in Arlington
National Cemetery.
The family requests that a random act of kindness be given to
someone of your choice in John’s memory.
“And when our work is done, Our course on earth is run, May it be
said, “Well done; Be thou at peace.”
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Obituaries:
John K. Solomon
October 1, 1938 ~ March 30, 2020 (age 81)
Colonel John K. Solomon, (Ret), 81,
passed away at his home in Central Virginia after a long battle with
Parkinson’s disease.
He was born at Ft. Bliss, Texas and raised in a military
family. Following graduations from high school in Paris, France, he
entered the Army Reserves. John attended the USMA Prep school and
graduated from West Point in 1961. He received his Master’s Degree in
Mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. John attended the US
Arm Artillery & Missile School, the US Marine Corps Command and Staff
College, and the US Army War College.
John’s military assignments included: Corporal and
Sergeant Systems, Vicenza, Italy; 105 Howitzer Command, Fort Sill,
Oklahoma; Operations Officer, Americal Division; Artillery Direct
Support 105mm Howitzer Battalion, Republic of View Nam; Battalion
Command Lance Missile System, Crailsheim, Germany; Assistant Professor
of Mathematics; Regimental Tactical Officer, USMA; The Joint Staff; Ops
and Plans, SETAF, Vicenza, Italy; Department of Army Staff; The
Washington Liaison Office, The Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force.
Decorations include: The Legion of Merit, Bronze Star
Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Defense Meritorious Service Medal,
Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal, National
Defense Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster,
Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Bronze Star, Vietnam Cross Unit Citation
with Palm, Parachutist Badge, Army Ranger Tab, Army General Staff Badge,
and Joint Chiefs Staff Badge.
Following his military career, John joined the Thomas
Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Faculty, Alexandria,
where he taught mathematics and directed the school’s Mentorship Program
until he retired in 2004.
In addition to his overall achievements, music and
theater were his hobbies. The family unit was always a primary focus in
his thoughts. Every day was a new adventure and educational experience
whether traveling off to a new destination or on an athletic field.
Everyone was taught to do their best, develop and appreciate all the God
given talents. Respect, admiration, counsel, and enthusiasm were always
present. Prayerfully, his shining example will be handed down to his
dynasty.
John was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He is
survived by his wife, Mary Jane; his son, Christopher, Winthrop,
Washington; his daughters, Mary Anne (Molly) Solomon, and Husband
Geoffrey Russell, Winter Park, Florida, and Mary Katherine (Kate), and
husband Spencer Jones, Longwood, Florida; five grandchildren, his
brothers, Colonel Wm. V. Solomon (USA Ret) Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and
James H. Solomon, Vienna, Virginia. John was preceded in death by his
parents, Brigadier General M.A. Solomon (USA Ret) and his wife Molly
Solomon.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, July
28 at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 9151 Elys Ford Road, Spotsylvania.
Interment will take place on Wednesday, July 29 in
Arlington National Cemetery.
The family requests that a random act of kindness be
given to someone of your choice in John’s memory.
“And when our work is done, Our course on earth is run,
May it be said, “Well done; Be thou at peace.”
Assembly/Taps Memorial Article:
JOHN K. SOLOMON 1961
Cullum No. 23438-1961 | March
30, 2020 | Died in Fredericksburg,
VA
Interred
at Arlington National Cemetery, VA

John Knapp
“Johnny” Solomon hated to be bored. To Johnny, as his wife and close
friends called him, boredom was a failure of imagination. There were too
many 10Ks to run, places yet to visit, songs to play.
Johnny was born at Fort Bliss, TX into a family that bled Army Green. His
father was a West Pointer who would become a brigadier. Two brothers also
would become Army officers. After graduating from high school in Paris,
Johnny became a private in the Army before enrolling at the USMA Prep
School. He entered West Point in 1957. He took the military seriously—no one
knew how to stand more ramrod-straight—but, even then, he was an oddity: He
loved show tunes and singing; he played piano by ear. At West Point he sang
in the Glee Club and was involved in numerous 100th Night Shows. Upon
graduation in 1961 the yearbook commented wryly that it wasn’t appropriate
to list all Johnny’s talents because this was an annual for a military
academy, not a conservatory.
Assigned to Vicenza, Italy, he spied a striking young nurse through the
canned peas at the base commissary. He thought she would be perfect for the
lead role in The Fantasticks, which he was directing. Then the leading man
got sick. Johnny stepped in—and fell in love with Mary Jane Fenzel. For 55
years of marriage, she would be the solid ground beneath him, always packing
their bags for the next big adventure he was constantly dreaming up, soon
with three young blonde children in tow.
Johnny’s field artillery expertise drove many of his assignments: 105
Howitzer command at Fort Sill, OK (1966); a tour as an operations officer in
the Americal Division and in a howitzer battalion in Vietnam (1968-69); and,
later, Crailsheim, Germany for a battalion command of a Lance Missile System
(1974-76). Before going to Vietnam he had received a master’s degree in
mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY (1968). He
would return to West Point twice: first, to teach math to cadets as an
assistant professor of mathematics (1969-72); later, as tactical officer for
the second regiment (1977-80).
In Vietnam, Johnny would trot around LZ Bronco in his combat boots. Running
became his daily ritual. At West Point he would rise in the dark to run with
the cadets into the pinking dawn. And there was always music: While at West
Point, he produced musicals, including Godspell, and he was
officer-in-charge of the cadet Glee Club.
There also were assignments to the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff
College at Quantico, VA (1973) and the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA
(1977), as well as three assignments to “the five-sided building.” When he
retired as a colonel in 1986 after 26 years in the military, though, Johnny
rarely spoke of his years of service. He had a drawer full of medals—Bronze
Stars, Legion of Merits, Gallant Y Cross, Defense Superior Service Medals
and Joint Chief of Staff Badge—that he never mentioned. To him, tomorrow was
always more interesting than yesterday. He spoke often, though, of the
ideals of the Long Gray Line that guided his life: Duty, Honor, Country.
In “retirement” Johnny turned again to mathematics. For a decade he taught
math at Thomas Jefferson High School for science and technology, a magnet
school in Alexandria, VA that attracted some of the region’s brightest
students. He disliked math’s reputation as unapproachable. In calculus,
instead of talking of functions, domain, and range, he’d tell students,
“Plug that number into the mothership!” For five years after that he
coordinated the school’s highly regarded mentorship program, sending
students to learn at places such as NASA and NIH. He also served as
executive producer of the West Point Alumni Glee Club in the Washington, DC
area.
Those are the dates and titles. But they don’t capture nearly enough of who
Johnny was. He adored watching the team formerly known as the Redskins. He
wrote frequent, long letters to his children, and to Mary Jane. He had
godawful handwriting. He was a merciless kidder. He was fueled mostly by
cold Pepsi, spaghetti all’Amatriciana and Mario’s sub sandwiches. He loved
aphorisms: “You live for others”; “Do good and disappear.” He could be
uncompromising and hard to please, and he made his children grow up saying,
“Yes, sir,” and “No, sir,” as if they were plebes. He demanded the best,
always—of his cadets, his math students, his children. He knew you were
capable of great things, if pushed. “Everything bends to hard work,” he
would say. He always was there to help if you showed him you were trying. “I
never close!” he’d say. He usually got your best from you—the definition of
a leader.
Sometimes, when he told his wife or children how much he loved them, his
voice would quaver and his eyes would grow wet and he would nearly break
into tears. Hs children had learned too well from him, though, and now they
mercilessly teased him for his tenderness. He loved that, too.
In 1996 Johnny became a Roman Catholic. His faith consoled him even as he
suffered from Parkinson’s disease for two decades, which made his last
several years grueling. But he also had the gift of Mary Jane unfailing
beside him, and who always was ready to accompany him, whatever tune he
struck up.
As Johnny wrote of a fellow West Pointer in his poem “The Guidon”:
Today an
Old Soldier was laid
to his
rest
A gallant
Warrior was he,
He gave a
lifetime of service to Country,
For
brothers like you and like me.
—
Christopher Solomon, son, and family
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