John O.C. McCrillis, 103, of Branford died peacefully on Oct. 1. Born in Brockton, Massachusetts, on June 3, 1914, John lived in Whitman, Massachusetts, until at age 8, he moved with his family to Newport, Rhode Island. In his teens, he began working at a local pharmacy delivering prescriptions on his bicycle. He nearly had a career as a pharmacist, but his first love was art. He saved his money and at age 21, enrolled at Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied with master calligrapher John Howard Benson and majored in graphic design. After graduating in 1939, he moved to Boston and worked as a free-lance graphic designer and calligrapher until 1942, when he entered the U.S. Army Air Corps. He attended radio school and then was assigned to the flight crew of a B-25 bomber, flying 50 missions over North Africa and Italy during WWII. He then returned to the U.S. and taught at an Air Corps radio school until the end of the war.
On September 30, 1945, he married his fiancée, RISD classmate Barbara Roffee, of Providence. They lived briefly in Philadelphia, then relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, where John taught at the Kansas City Art Institute and worked as a design consultant at Hallmark Cards. After three years in Kansas City, he decided that if he continued to teach, he should have a master’s degree. He enrolled at the Yale School of Art in 1950 and enjoyed the university so much, he stayed on long after receiving his M.F.A. in 1952. He and Barbara settled in Branford in 1950 and never left.
John had many interests and made time to pursue them. He had a fulfilling career as head of the design department at Yale University Press for nearly 30 years. He was class secretary and an alumni trustee at RISD, and a member of the board of trustees and the publications committee at the New Haven Colony Historical Society (now the New Haven Museum). For about 20 years, he was an adjunct professor in the Yale School of Art. He later taught calligraphy at Creative Arts Workshop. In his long career, he took on hundreds of free-lance projects in publication design, calligraphy, and painting. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Branford for 67 years and served the church in many ways during that time. He sang bass in the church choir for 60 years, painted for his own enjoyment, taught himself how to play the piano and recorder, and was an avid gardener. He was the author of two books: A Printer’s Abecedarium, and An Airman’s Letters.
Never one to neglect his social life, John was a member of the Columbiad Club, the Elizabethan Club, and Mory’s. He was an outgoing person with a positive, can-do attitude and a delightful sense of humor. He loved cats, and they made frequent appearances in his artwork. Those who knew him recall his whimsical word play and hilarious puns.
Friends were invited to a memorial service Nov. 10 in the First Baptist Church of Branford. For an online memorial see www.wsclancy.com.
