Necrology

John Frederick Zaehringer '73

Dec. 12, 1951-Feb. 6, 2024

John Frederick Zaehringer ’73 died on Feb. 6, 2024, in Warsaw, N.Y. Born in Montgomery, Ala., on Dec. 12, 1951, he was raised in Tonawanda, N.Y., and came to Hamilton from Kenmore East High School. On the Hill, he majored in economics. In the spring semester of his junior year, John served as an intern at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and for Congressman Robert Eckhardt (D-Texas). Being passionate about politics and world events, he joined the Root-Jessup Public Affairs Council and the Environmental Ecology Committee of Hamilton and Kirkland.

After graduating with honors in his major, John joined Royal-Globe Insurance in 1974 as an analyst in the systems planning and control department. He also took night classes at the New York University School of Business (now the Stern School of Business). As he explained in 1998 in his entry for his 25th reunion yearbook, taking these classes helped him determine “whether the interest in economics I acquired at Hamilton would carry over to a higher level.” It did, and in 1976 he began graduate study in the field at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. 

He found his classes stimulating, and following completion of a master’s degree in 1978 he began doctoral studies. During this time he met Patricia Joan Griffin, a singer who specialized in opera. They were married on Dec. 14, 1979, in Pittsburgh, and in addition to their son, they also adopted a daughter.

During the doctoral program, he taught courses as a teaching fellow in microeconomic theory and benefit-cost analysis. Having completed the course work and passed his doctoral comprehensive examination, John found himself at a crossroads: complete the dissertation or return to the business world? He chose the latter, explaining his decision to do so as the result of discovering, as he noted in his reunion yearbook, that “I lacked the creative spark necessary for a successful research career.”

Stepping away from the Ph.D. in March 1982, he joined the business economics group of W.R. Grace & Co., a global specialty chemicals company based in New York City. He quickly grew dissatisfied when his main responsibility turned out to be to support the chairman’s right-wing political agenda, a viewpoint he did not share. In October 1985, he accepted a position in, as he put it, “the economics shop” of Loomis, Sayles & Co, an investment counseling business in Boston. He was one of two people in that “shop,” and, three years later, when the man who had hired him retired, John was promoted to vice president and chief economist, a position he held until his retirement in 2008.

Not surprisingly, growing up in the greater Buffalo area, John’s favorite sports teams were the Bills and the Sabres. Later on, while living in Wellesley, Mass., he added the Boston Celtics to that list.

Looking back after 25 years in his reunion yearbook, John expressed appreciation for the fact that “Hamilton constantly challenged me to sharpen my ability to think critically and to communicate clearly.” He repaid the College with regular donations to the Hamilton Fund.

John F. Zaehringer is survived by his wife, son, and daughter.

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