JOHN F. MAGAGNA

John F. Magagna, an international educator who returned to his Northeast Pennsylvania roots after a distinguished career as a teacher and administrator in Morocco, Iran, and Indonesia, died on Sunday, September 29 in Wilkes Barre at the age of 90. Surrounded by his family, he passed away after bravely facing health challenges with his characteristic determination and perseverance in recent years. Those who knew him best loved him for his loyalty, generosity, charisma, sense of humor, intelligence, problem-solving ability, boundless energy, and enthusiasm for life.
 

John had many passions in life, first among them the wellbeing of his family, and next his love of classical music, of which he had exceptional knowledge. He was a lifelong sportsman, enjoying hunting and fishing throughout Pennsylvania and beyond. John was also an avid tennis player from youth, winning many tournaments, including the Northeastern Pennsylvania Open Tournament and the Governor's Cup of northern Morocco. Although he took up skiing late in life, what he lacked in ability he made up for with enthusiasm. His children once asked his dear friend Bow McLean what he thought of their dad skiing; without a moment’s hesitation he said, "your dad reminds me of an avalanche coming down the hill. All momentum and no form." John was an active philanthropist in the communities that helped shape him, serving on the boards of Wyoming Seminary, the Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic, as well as various other organizations. He often said that as the recipient of acts of kindness and generosity from countless people, he felt obliged to repay and pass on that generosity in any way he could as an expression of gratitude to those who helped him in good times and in bad, especially his family and his teachers at Wyoming Seminary.

John Flock Magagna was born on December 23, 1933, in Augusta, Georgia, to Peter and Muriel Magagna, and grew up in Northeast Pennsylvania. His father ran the family silk business, and moved the family back to White Haven after John was born, settling in the home where John’s paternal grandparents, both immigrants from the Austrian Tyrol, had raised ten children. John would always answer questions about his birthplace by saying, “Well, my mother was like Sherman’s army; she was passing through Georgia when I was born.”

After relocating to Wyoming to revive the silk mill there during the depths of the Great Depression, John’s father sent him to the first of a pair of uninspiring parochial schools, which led to John’s refusal to attend school at all in the fall of his sophomore year while his father was in Japan to help rebuild the Japanese silk industry under General Douglas MacArthur. He spent many of those three months in the outdoors of Glen Summit, hunting, fishing, and playing tennis, among the happiest periods of his life.

His life changed forever the following year when, in response to John’s pleas to send him to the only local school with a tennis team, his mother enrolled him at Wyoming Seminary, where he arrived in 1949 with weak academic skills, no study habits to speak of, and marginal social skills, but found there extraordinary teachers who inspired him to become a good enough student to gain admission to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he played on the varsity tennis team. Upon serving his commission as an officer, he returned to Wyoming Seminary with a debt of gratitude to be repaid and taught there as a math teacher for three years before earning his M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

After marrying Diane Ringawa in 1963, a Fulbright grant took him to the American School of Tangier in Morocco. Captivated by the thrill of life in Tangier, John and Diane stayed in Morocco for five years, during which time John rose to the position of headmaster, and their three daughters were born, Erica, Rebecca and Jessica. In 1968, John and the family moved back to Wyoming Valley to become head of the Wyoming Seminary Lower School, and his son John was born.

In 1975 the family moved abroad once again, this time to Iran, where he became head of the American Community School of Tehran. Although they found Iran and Iranians extremely hospitable and welcoming, by 1978 the revolution against the Shah had become violent and dangerous, and by Christmas most foreigners and thousands of Iranians had fled. John was one of the last Americans in the country, finally leaving in July 1979 to take up a new position as headmaster of La Jolla Country Day School in California. After John and Diane’s marriage ended, he assumed the headship of Rutgers Preparatory School and moved to New Jersey to be closer to his four children.

In 1984 John went abroad one last time to serve as head of Jakarta International School, one of the biggest and most prominent international schools. In 1985 he married Heeyun Kim, and their son Jamie was born three years later. In 1990 their daughter Sarah was born, and John brought them all back to Pennsylvania the following year. There, after nearly three decades of leading schools and having found that his best strength and greatest pleasure lay in recruiting outstanding teachers, he started Search Associates, now one of the premier teacher placement firms in international education. He retired at the age of 85 and returned to Glen Summit where he had built his dream house. From the third floor, he loved gazing out over the woods of Glen Summit, where he had hunted as a boy, and the rolling hills beyond. The room was filled with numerous hunting trophies and cherished memorabilia, including his most prized possession: an F.W. Woolworth Co. hunting jacket worn to shreds through nearly eight decades of wear and tear from the scrub oak of Glen Summit and beating the bush at Lake Catalpa.

In addition to his parents and beloved maternal grandparents Wilson Jacob Hauser and Gertrude Flock Hauser, John is predeceased by siblings Muriel, Peter, and David Magagna, his first wife Diane Ringawa Magagna, his daughter Erica Magagna, and his son John Flock Hauser Magagna. He is survived by his children Diane Rebecca Sherman, Jessica Magagna Snyder, wife Heeyun Kim and their children James Wilson and Sarah Ellen Magagna along with seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

John’s family would like to express their deepest gratitude to everyone who helped care for him in his last year of life, at Geisinger, Wesley Village, Allied Home Health, and Home Instead. Memorial donations can be made to the John Magagna Charitable Trust at the Luzerne Foundation, which supports Wyoming Seminary Preparatory School and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, among other organizations dear to John’s heart. (Phone: +1 570 822 2065)

A memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 12, 2024. Calling hours will be from 10:00 a.m. until time of service.

Arrangements under the direction of the Lehman Family Funeral Service.

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