John Larson was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and has lived in Hillsborough, NJ, for the last 34 years. John’s mother was born in Kramfors, Sweden, and his father in Tønsberg, Norway.
John’s military career started with Army ROTC at Pratt Institute in 1965. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in March 1967 and completed Combat Engineer AIT and Infantry OCS before being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He then attended the Aerial Surveillance Officer Course before his first tour in Vietnam, assigned to HQ MACV J2.
Following that tour, he had a second tour in Vietnam with the 73rd Surveillance Airplane Company. From Vietnam, he had a tour in Germany with the Surveillance & Exploitation Division of HQ USAREUR G2. He finished his active duty with a third tour in Vietnam, assigned to MACV Advisor Team 22, supporting the ARVN 22nd Infantry Division.
His 24 years of reserve duty began with the 24th Military Intelligence Battalion (Aerial Reconnaissance Support). There he served in detachment command positions, followed by being the S2/3, then XO, and finally commanded the battalion for over 4 years, ending in July 1989. His reserve career continued in mobilization designee positions as Deputy Chief, Imagery Directorate of the U.S. Army Intelligence and Threat Analysis Center (ITAC), followed by Deputy Chief, Military Capabilities Division of the Ground Forces Intelligence Center. John was on active duty at ITAC in the Washington Navy Yard for the opening of the Desert Storm air campaign. In 2004, he was inducted into the OCS Hall of Fame at the Infantry School in Fort Benning, GA. He retired from the U.S. Army in 2008.
John has an MBA with a concentration in Quantitative Analysis from Long Island University. He has several certifications: computer programmer, information systems auditor, quality engineer, advanced SAS programmer, and SAS data modeler. He was an EDP Auditor with Manufacturers Hanover Trust, Bristol Myers, and Merrill Lynch. He later managed service analysis at Merrill Lynch. He served as an engineer in General Dynamics Integrated Strike Planning Department for 3 years and then returned to Merrill Lynch to again manage service analysis. John was a member of the 1994, 1995, and 1996 Boards of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. He ended his civilian career as a financial service systems engineer for 16 years at SAS Institute, retiring in 2019 at age 71.
John had one child, Angela, who died at age 30 in 2020. Angela was an RN trauma nurse and PADI scuba dive master. John loves the outdoors and has run many long-distance races, including the first and next five five-borough NYC Marathons, several Marine Corps Marathons, and 19 Army Ten Milers. He climbed Mount Rainier four times, in 1985 and 1986 as an adult leader with the Explorer Scouts, and then again at age 60 and 65. He has hiked across the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim several times and has backpacked all over the interior of Yellowstone NP. John loves to ski and is a PADI master scuba diver. He has been the Master of Ceremonies of Lodge Linne of the Vasa Order of America for over 20 years.
The first indication of kidney disease may have been rejection for albumin in the urine when trying to enlist in the U.S. Army in October 1966. Later, there was a hard hit from a horse in the lower back. In 2015, John’s left kidney was removed because of cancer. Two years later, the right kidney began to fail. John began dialysis in 2022.
For medically cleared donors, giving the gift of life through living kidney donation has been proven to be very safe. DOVE will assist all prospective donors throughout the process and make sure they do not incur any out-of-pocket expenses related to the evaluation or surgery. A healthy person can live a normal life with one kidney and save John’s life with the other!
Your support, whether through spreading the word on social media or considering becoming a donor, can make a profound impact on his life and the life of his family!
Please click on the link below if you would like to learn more OR call (551) 233-1611