John G. Gaines Jr., ChE 40, of Prairie Village, Kan., a prolific writer of letters to the editors of a number of publications, died March 18, two days after his final e-mail to the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine and five days after his 92nd birthday.
Mr. Gaines’ last published letter to the Alumni Magazine appeared in the March/April issue. In it, he asked to hear from members of the class of 1940.
“John Gaines’ interest in his classmates did pay off by nudging them to reach out to each other,” said Living History director Marilyn Somers. “A classmate of his, Dr. Burney Huff, contacted me and asked if I would help him contact the other surviving members of the ChE class of 1940. I sent a letter to every member we had an address for — 17. Since then Dr. Huff has reported the responses are coming in.”
One of Mr. Gaines’ six surviving children, Marianne Gaines, said her father’s letters were published frequently in the Kansas City Star. “Since his passing we have come across responses to his letters from people such as Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon and Lamar Hunt, owner of his beloved Kansas City Chiefs.” She was not surprised to learn her father also wrote regularly to the Alumni Magazine.
“He loved his time at Georgia Tech and spoke about it frequently,” she said. “When the funeral home asked which prayer we would like to have printed on the back of the prayer cards, my brother knew immediately what it should be. I know that [Ramblin’ Wreck] wasn’t exactly what the church had in mind for a prayer, but it was a very fitting tribute to our dad and the school that he loved.”
Mr. Gaines married his sweetheart from Agnes Scott College, Nina Broughton, who survives him, on Aug. 11, 1941.
“Dad was in Dutch Harbor when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and just outside Berlin when the Germans surrendered. He led Company C of the 1323rd Engineers, the first black troops into Europe” after D-Day, son Mark Gaines said.
Mr. Gaines was awarded battle stars for the Battle of Midway and for five major battles in Europe. He retired from the military in 1968 after serving reserve duty in the Field Artillery.
He was a self-employed manufacturer’s representative in the Kansas City area for 15 years before going to work for Devine Lighting. He retired in 1982, then traveled extensively, including to visit a Belgian family that had befriended him during the Battle of the Bulge.
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