William John Hussey

An Abbreviated Life Fully Lived

John had an adventurer’s heart. He was smart, capable, and set about experiencing life like few others. He had an engaging personality that promised interesting and fun times to those who shared his life. His obituary captures much of the essence of John.

William “John” Hussey, 42, passed away suddenly on November 15, 2021, at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany on January 29, 1979, and was the son of Bettye Hook Hussey and the late COL. William Van Hussey.

John graduated from Texas State University and obtained the rank of Major during his service in the United States Army. After leaving the military, he joined the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer serving in Manila, Philippines; Maputo, Mozambique; Washington, D.C.; and was recently stationed at U.S. Embassy Baku in Azerbaijan.

John was an U.S. Army hero, a Special Operations Civil Affairs officer, a doctrine writer in Abu Dhabi, and a U.S. Foreign Service Officer specializing in human rights. He studied Spanish, German, Russian, and even a bit of Kiswahili. He was a husband, father, son, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, and friend.

A humble but well-traveled man, John will be remembered for his quick wit, infectious smile, and love of wearing flip flops even in the winter. He is best known for his marvelous cooking, his loyal friendship, and his love for his family. Whether enjoying the beach, scuba diving, snowboarding, or camping, John had a kind word and a story to tell.

Surviving are his wife, Jean Marie Hussey and two sons, Joshua and Jacob. Also surviving are his mother, Bettye Hook Hussey of Harrisonburg, Virginia; a sister, Alisabeth Gheen and husband, Will of Harrisonburg; three nieces, Ryleigh, Charlotte and Addison Gheen; father and mother-in-law, Michael and Darla Donnenwirth of Bucyrus, Ohio and his faithful dog, Paddy; as well as many cousins and a multitude of friends.

A memorial service will be conducted at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, November 20, 2021, at Kyger Funeral Home in Harrisonburg, Virginia. A reception will follow, located at the Preston Lake Community Club.

A celebration of life service will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. Monday, November 22, 2021, at Christ Church Episcopal in Savannah, Georgia with interment following at Bonaventure Cemetery. The Very Rev. Anne M. Maxwell, of Jackson, Mississippi will officiate the two services.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation at https://specialops.org or the charity of your choice.

Of necessity, obituaries are sparse things. Even an obituary as well written as John’s can’t convey the fullness of a life. Mike Lynch's eulogy collected what so many of us were feeling and reliving in our minds into one sterling rememberence.

Eulogy delivered by Mike Lynch, Christ Church Episcopal in Savannah, Georgia

For everyone gathered here together today, whether in person or in sprit, and for those who attended services Saturday in Harrisonburg John Hussey played a distinct role in each of our lives: he was a dutiful son to Bill and Bettye; an adoring husband to Jean Marie; devoted father to Joshua and Jacob, best big brother and brother-in-law you could ever ask for to Alizabeth and Will, crazy-fun uncle to Rayliegh, Charlotte and Attison, son-in-law, nephew, older cousin, younger cousin, classmate, colleague, friend, brother-in-arms.

No matter how your relationship with John was defined -- be it by blood, marriage, or just happenstance -- no matter what role he played in your life, he touched each one of us profoundly and as we mourn his loss, we do so notably during Thanksgiving week.

Thanksgiving in Savannah was John’s favorite, my wife Eleana and I were fortunate enough to take part in a few of the Hussey clan’s Thanksgivings and we witnessed firsthand the joy they brought John. For a globetrotter whose holiday plans invariably meant a revolving series of stops in the Delta Sky miles lounge (sidenote: Delta definitely lost money on that deal) John always tried to make it back to Savannah for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is the time where we collectively pause and express gratitude for the blessings bestowed upon us. But for many of us the past seven days have been the worst of our lives, John was taken suddenly and far too soon. I spent the last week like many of you: shocked, deeply saddened, angry, untethered …I’m not in the mood to be Thankful, but I can’t help myself because I am. I’m Thankful for the fact that I can stand here with you today and say, like you can – we’re the lucky ones, we’re the people who had John Hussey in our lives.

And if you were lucky enough to call John your son then you are blessed to know that you raised a genuinely outstanding human, a man whose life was defined by service, first as a combat leader in the US Army Infantry, as a Civil Affairs team chief, and later as a foreign service officer. You raised a son who never wavered, never faltered in the door, never said this mission is too hard. You raised a son who chose to devote his life to defending all of ours, to spreading our ideals, and helping others across the world. And you raised a son who honored you Bettye and the memory of Bill in every thought and with every deed.

And if you were lucky enough to be the second Hussey born to Bill and Bettye then you were lucky enough to have had John as a sibling, a built-in co-conspirator down the hall, someone who, as you so beautifully remembered Alizabeth, was not only a brother but also a mentor and a best friend. He taught you what he considered to be key life skills: not only how to drive a car, but also how to shoot a gun, how to do a keg stand, and, crucially, the proper way to smoke a brisket. You were lucky enough to have John walk you down the aisle and hold your three girls in his big arms and smile approvingly.

And if you were lucky enough to meet and marry Alizabeth then not only did you find a great wife, but you were lucky enough, Will, to have gained another brother.

And if you were lucky enough be living at FT. Bragg in the ____ of 2011 then you were lucky enough to fall in love with John. To find a life partner who met your love, devotion, and acceptance with equal measure Jean Maries a man with whom you would set off on an adventure that would quite literally take you around the world. And you were lucky enough to have a met a man forever known afterwards simply as “Mister John” who dedicated himself with every fiber of his being to being a father to Joshua and Jacob.

And if you were lucky enough to be at the bar somewhere in Honolulu in Nov of 2001 having just moved 5,000 miles away from every person in the world that you knew, with ground zero still smoldering, with the future completely uncertain and unable to shake the ever-present question of ‘what have I gotten myself into?’ If you were lucky, John Hussey would saddle up to the bar next to you and order a beer, John would glance over, look you up and down, cock his head a bit and say: “Dude are you just going to stand there or do you want a beer?” I was lucky and that’s the day I became friends with John, or, as he would forever be known: “Hussey.”

Now as many of you know, being friends with Hussey wasn’t always a picnic, in fact sometimes it was hard work. First you had to have a ton of stuff: snowboards, surfboards, scuba gear, a spear gun, limes, coconut milk, Copenhagen, diet Coke, jalapenos, and bourbon – both for quaffing and for marinating 2-inch thick ribeyes in – a floppy red felt Lobster hat for Jimmy Buffet concerts … all this had to be on hand. You needed a credit card capable of sustaining $300 dinner diners, double that in bar tabs, and impromptu plane tickets to Maui. You also had to make sure your propane tank was filled although it was quietly understood you would not be doing the grilling.

You also couldn’t really make weekend plans because Saturday might involve an emergency like building a floating grill and renting a pontoon boat to take out on Kaneohe Bay. Sundays at least brought some regularity: brunch at Jamesons, Waimea Bay beach … everyone meet at Dukes at 5.

Also difficult, as our friend Mike Halas pointed out on Saturday, was figuring out where Hussey was from, which would elusively change based present company, your current location, what you were eating, what game was on TV, or even the whims of the weather. I got so confused trying to figure out if it was San Marcos, Savannah or maybe even South Korea, I eventually just started introducing John to visiting friends and family with: “This is Hussey, he’s from the Army.”

After we all left Hawaii, Eleana and I were fortunate enough to move to Savannah and Hussey was eventually stationed at Ft. Bragg. Although we now lived 5 hours instead of 5 minutes apart, this seemingly did nothing to slow the pace of our adventures. Hussey had a permanent reservation for our guest room – which was dubbed the Jimmy Buffet room- and he taught us to love low country boil, to tolerate boiled peanuts, and how to properly do St. Patrick’s Day (a galling proposition for this Irish Catholic kid from Massachusetts).

Later years saw us much more geographically separated, but distance never dulled our friendship. It did bring new challenges however, for instance, you basically had to have the entire world’s time zones memorized so that when your phone buzzed you could do the mental math on whether this was Hussey calling with a 15 minute check in from the airport in Frankfurt, or whether it was after 11 pm in Dubai in which case Hussey – never one to turn in early – was up and wanted to talk. On that note, Hussey certainly found his calling as a diplomat because he was a born communicator, a connector, a unifier. Perhaps because my own ability in this arena is so lacking, I always marveled at Hussey’s capacity to keep in touch with people and he was always reaching out with an update on so and so or to say he had just met X person from the old days for lunch. No matter where he was Hussey never missed calling on a holiday or special occasion and I know the Lynch household was only one of many calls he would make that particular day.

Finally, as Hussey’s adventures continued you had to have a solid command of geography too so you could explain to your family--when they asked “Where’s Hussey these days?”--that he, Jeannie and the boys were in Mozambique – the response to which was invariably “Oh so he’s still in the Philippines.” And then you had to explain the whole thing to them.

I said earlier that being friends with Hussey was sometimes work, but that was clearly tongue in cheek, Hussey’s friendship wasn’t something that every involved toil, rather it was one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received. For 20 years it meant being friends with someone who would have your back, or give you the shirt off of his, someone who would keep you in line while simultaneously building you up. For twenty years I got to be friends with someone who was generous and kind, a person whose heart was 100 times bigger than his ego—even though he had every right to boast of his achievements and the amazing life he had crafted for himself. We had a lot of adventures together, and we had a lot more planned. I’m really going to miss you John, but today I count myself lucky, lucky to have had John Hussey as my best friend -- a gift I’ll be eternally Thankful for.

Chronology

Flag	Where	When	What
	Frankfort, Germany	Jan 29 1979	Born, 97th General Hospital
	Woodridge, VA	Jul 1981	Father assigned to MILPERCEN
	Woodridge, VA	Aug 1984	John attends kindergarden through 2nd grade
	Carlisle, PA	Jul 1987	John attends 3rd through 5th grade
	Seoul, Korea	Jan 1990	John attends 6th through 8th grade
	Oahu, Hawaii	June 1993	John attends 8th through 12th grade
	San Marcos, TX	July 1996	Attends Southwest Texas State University, now known as Texas State University
	San Marcos, TX	Dec 1998	Graduates Southwest Texas State University, commissioned 2nd Lt, US Army
	Fort Benning, GA	Mar 1999	Attended Infantry Officers course and Jump school
	Oahu, Hi	Jan 2001	Assigned to 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hi
	Bosnia Herzegovina	Apr 2002	Deployed with 25th Infantry as element of peacekeeping mission
	Iraq	jan 2004	?
	Fort Carson, CO	?	?
	Iraq	Apr 2008	?
	Fort Brag, NC	?	?
	Afghanistan	Oct 2011	?
	Fort Brag, NC	?	?
	Fort Brag, NC	Dec 2012	Discharged from Army
	Abu Dhabi, UAE	?
	Isla Mujeres, Mexico	?	Married
	Washington, DC	?	Joins US Department of State as Foreign Service Officer
	Manilia, Philippines	?	?
	Maputo, Mozambique	?	?
	Baku, Azerbaijan	?	?
	Charlottesville, VA	Nov 15, 2021	John passed away at the University of Virginia Medical Center