Farmington Obituary: John Glasgow, 81

John M. Glasgow, of East Haven, passed away peacefully February 4, 2016 after a long courageous battle with the effects of Parkinson’s disease.

John was born in July of 1934 in Bancroft, Iowa to Robert Louis Glasgow and Phyllis Madonna (Swan) Glasgow Winter. He was preceded in death by his parents, his two older brothers Robert Thomas and Richard Neil as well as his younger brother Terry Winter and sister Linda (Winter) Fetters.

Survivors include wife Nancy (Neumann) Glasgow, sister Judy (Winter) Valley, of Arkansas, and former wife Peggy (Overstreet) Brown of Connecticut. He leaves behind his five sons, Mike of Utah, Sean (wife Cheryl), Brennan, David of Connecticut, and Chris of North Carolina as well as 8 grandchildren.

John grew up in Texas, graduating from El Campo High School in 1952 and attending Wharton County Junior College prior to joining the Navy for four years serving as a Hospital Corpsman. He did his basic training in San Diego California and received additional education at Hospital Corps School at San Diego Naval Hospital. His first son Mike was born at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital while he was attached to the Third Marine Division at South Camp Fuji in Japan.

After the Navy, he studied at the University of San Francisco (USF) with a major in Economics, graduating from USF in three years. He attended graduate school at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado where he pursued his studies of economics with an emphasis on “Institutional Economics”. His second and third sons, Sean and Brennan, were born during this time.

He joined the faculty of the Economics Department at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX during which time he completed his dissertation, and was awarded the Ph.D. degree. His fourth son David was born. Then it was on to a National Institute of Health post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, Michigan. From there, he was recruited to join the original faculty of the School of Medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.

He combined academic and practical interests in the area of health administration, serving in a variety of leadership roles including Special Assistant to the Vice President and Acting Vice-President for Health Affairs. Between 1975 and 1985, he evolved from Assistant to Associate Vice-President of Health Affairs and Associate Executive Director for Administration. Surrendering his administrative responsibilities in 1985 to return to the Department of Community Medicine and Health Care as Professor and Chair, he retired in 1992.

His fifth son (Chris) was born in Connecticut. During this time he met and married Nancy. They were able to travel internationally and domestically, and developed a love of the Southwest.

John and Nancy ultimately retired to El Prado, New Mexico, just outside of Taos, where they still own a home, and spent many very happy years together, nurturing their mutual love of Archeology and Art, and amassing their own extensive art collection. They stayed in El Prado until various circumstances, including John’s health issues related to Parkinson’s disease, resulted in a final move to East Haven.

John was intellectual, an avid reader, financially disciplined, tough and loving, with a terrific sense of humor. John believed that “while you should buy the very best you could afford, you should not buy anything you couldn’t afford”. He was also aware that he was not perfect, that he had faults, but he was also content in knowing that any faults he may have had were not due to the lack of caring. He will be missed greatly and remembered fondly by many family and friends.

The family thanks the staff at the Village at Mariner’s Point in East Haven, Excella Healthcare and Connecticut Hospice Home Care for their support and friendship.

A Celebration of John’s life will be held Saturday February 27, 2016 at the New Britain Museum of American Art 56 Lexington St. New Britain, CT at 2:30pm.

In lieu of flowers, offerings in his memory may be made to The Michael J Fox Foundation (www.michaeljfox.org), the Harwood Museum of Art (www.harwoodmuseum.org) or The Connecticut Hospice, 100 Double Beach Road, Branford, CT 06405.

Friends may sign the on-line guest book at www.iovanne.com.