THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290371
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 45 lines
Col. John C.``Jack'' Healey, 85, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), of the 3200 block of Page Ave., died May 27, 1996.
He participated in two of the most notable home front projects of World War II, the development of the atomic bomb, and the construction of the Alaska Highway. Colonel Healey was born in London Ontario, Canada, a son of Anthony and Louise Ryan Healey. He graduated from the University of Michigan. He worked as a reporter for newspapers: The Herald and Review in Decatur, Ill., The Item-Tribune in New Orleans, La., and The Enquirer and News in Battle Creek, Colo. Healey was ordered to active duty in World War II and was assigned to the construction division of the Army Corps of Engineers with duty at Fort Custer, Mich., and later to the Fairbanks, Alaska, District of the Corps of Engineers, which office supervised the construction of the Alaska Highway north of the Canadian border. Colonel Healey was assigned later to the headquarters of the Manhattan Project, in Washington, D.C., on the staff of Gen. L.R. Groves, during the last two years of the atomic bomb development program. After World War II he was assigned to the armed forces special weapons project. During this period he transferred from the Army to the Air Force.
Colonel Healey's assignments included the 4th Air Force at Hamilton Air Force Base, Calif., Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, and the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Subsequent tours of duty were at McClennan Air Force Base, Sacramento, Calif., Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, Ga., where he retired in 1968. The family then moved to Virginia Beach. Colonel Healey earned his masters degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Boothe Francis Healey; a daughter, Sharon Healey Bartholomew of Anaheim, Calif.; a son, Michael G. Healey of Poquoson, Va.; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
He was a member of the Harbor Club in Norfolk, the Rotary Club of Warner-Robins, Ga., Old Donation Episcopal Church in Virginia Beach, Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, Michigamua, a senior honor society at the University of Michigan, and the alumni associations of the University and of the College of William and Mary.
A funeral service will be conducted at 2 p.m. May 30, 1996 at the H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments, Laskin Road Chapel, by Chaplain J.E. Slater. Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery 1 p.m. June 3, 1996. There will be a visitation this evening from 7 until 8 p.m. at the funeral home.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB