John William Age - 86 - Los Alamos Drake

JOHN WILLIAM DRAKE, August 9, 1926 – December 30, 2012 John passed away peacefully on December 30, 2012 in Los Alamos. He is survived by his wife Anita M. Drake of Los Alamos; his son, John Michael Drake and girlfriend Elenore Chavez of Los Alamos; his son, Roger W. Drake of Rochester, Minn.; and his daughter, Deann and husband Alec Caspersen and her son Logan K. Caspersen. Logan was John’s only grandson whom he adored.\r\nJohn was born in Clovis. He grew up on a farm in McAlister. He went to high school in Glendora, Calif. He was a very athletic and was top five in high school for basketball, football, and track. He joined the Navy at seventeen during World War II and served from August 5, 1944 until June 5, 1946. John served in the pacific on the USS Daly. John married Anita in 1960 and had celebrated sixty years together in November. John worked on the family farm until he went to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad. After that, he moved to Los Alamos to work for AEC for security at Mason & Hanger. Then, he worked for Los Alamos National Laboratory until he retired.\r\n John has a passion for gardening. He loved to work in the yard all day. He enjoyed roses and delphiniums. He was a member of the Delphinium Society in England and the National Rose Society. He even tried to breed his own delphinium cross breed. He enjoyed giving away flowers and vegetables in the neighborhood. John could fix anything and was often called to a neighbor’s for help. He belonged to the Geology Club of Los Alamos and loved to hunt for fossils. He also wrote about his days in World War II and belonged to the Tin Can Sailors. A series of his writing was published in the Tin Can Sailors and the Albuquerque Journal. He will be dearly missed by his family.\r\nMemorial service will be held on Monday January 7, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. in the Sangre de Cristo Chapel of DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory with burial to take place at Santa Fe National Cemetery at 12:45 p.m. Serving the family as pallbearers will be: Alec Caspersen, Michael Drake, Roger Drake, Logan Caspersen, Tim Ashby and W.A. Hancock. The family of John William Drake has entrusted their loved one to DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory of the Española Valley. 505-662-2400

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