John Robert Taft, a resident of Duxbury for over 50 years, passed away on February 26. Mr. Taft was born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY, where he attended local schools and The Storm King School. He was an alumnus of MIT, Class of 1944, and had a long career as a professional engineer, including working on the design of the earliest nuclear powered submarines and atomic power plants. Mr. Taft was an officer in the US Navy for both World War ll and the Korean Conflict. He was aboard the USS Iowa in Tokyo Bay where it was moored adjacent to the USS Missouri when the Japanese surrender ceremony took place. He served in the Naval Research Reserve for thirty years. He also served on many local Duxbury boards and committees, including the Capital Budget Committee, the Council of Churches, the Bike Path Committee, and the Republican Town Committee. He was an active member of the MIT Alumni Association, the Duxbury ExNavos and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, a group of descendants of Civil War Union Officers dedicated to preserving the history of that period. Mr. Taft was an accomplished sailor who served as Commandant of the MIT Sailing Club . Through the years, he spent many happy hours sailing in Duxbury Bay and along the New England Coast.
He was married for 49 years to the late Mary Malvina Hopkins Taft and is survived by his children, Georgia Taft Pye and her husband James Taylor Pye of Duxbury, Marjorie Taft of Stratham, NH, Arthur T. Taft and his wife Linda Frech Taft of Greensboro, NC, John K. Taft and his wife Lori Nazar Taft of Chapel Hill, NC, and Roberta Taft Putney and her husband Andrew T. Putney of Plympton. He also leaves ten grandchildren and five nieces and nephews, including Christopher Knapp Taft of Maynard and Alexander Gunn Taft and family of Stow.
Burial will be private and a Memorial Service is planned for May 21, 2011 at Pilgrim Church in Duxbury.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to the Trustees of Partridge Academy, PO Box 2552, Duxbury, MA 02331, for the Molly Hopkins Taft Scholarship, or to Duxbury Bay Maritime School, P.O. Box 263A, Duxbury, MA 02331.