John Sherman Held of the Lake of the Woods, died May 15, 2003. He died in his home with his children by his side. Born July 18, 1932 - He is survived by his brothers Peter Held of Orange County, CA and Alan Held of Golden, Colorado, his daughters Mary-Anne Reisigl of Richmond, VA and Rachel DeMent of Midlothian, VA and his son Gordon Held of Chicago, IL. John was also the grandfather of five - Stephen DeMent V, Katherine DeMent, Sarah Ashley Reisigl, Alexandra DeMent and Caitlin Reisigl. He was also very close to his sons-in-law Stephen DeMent IV and John Reisigl III. John's wife Heather Held, preceded him in death April 8, 2001. John suffered from a short illness that resulted in his death. He was aware that the end was near and embraced it. As he said, he has lived a wonderful life, had no regrets, and was ready to see what comes next. His curiosity about what he hoped was to come extended from his love of knowledge. He was a graduate of Iowa State University and attended various other universities, including the University of Virginia. He spent four years in the army, stationed in Japan, before finishing his education. He was originally a physics major and ultimately a systems engineer with The Mitre Corporation (a division of M.I.T.). His work allowed him to travel the world - including what was once East Germany. He was a long distance runner, which included marathons - his favorite being the Boston marathon. He was also an avid golfer who was very proud of his trophy for his hole-in- one. His other passions were world history, the civil war and classical music. John's children would like to thank the wonderful nurses of Mary Washington Hospital's 3rd floor, Dr. Fiore for his kindness and to the incredible hospice team from Mary Washington. God bless you all. Most of all we would like to thank our father for spending his life making ours wonderful. Thank-you Dad for the campfires at the lake, the swimming lessons, the tennis lessons, the riding lessons -thanks dad for the trips to the Berkshires - thank-you for teaching us to appreciate your love of music, the beauty of the countryside and each other. Thanks Dad for coming to our games and meets, taking us to search for Stonewall Jackson's armin the rain and every civil war site known to man. Thank-you for exposing us to different cultures and countries. Thank-you for taking us to the ballet and Shakespeare on the lawn, thank-you for the scary Halloween parties, your "agos" and all the pictures you took of us growing up. Thank-you for your patience and sense of humor, thank-you for teaching us to value experiences more than things. Thanks Dad for loving us so much. We will miss you more than you will ever know.
Funeral services will be held at Laurel Hill Funeral Home on Route 3 in Spotsylvania, VA on Monday, May 19, 2003 at 2:00 p.m.