Col. John Warren Sheldon

Col. John Warren Sheldon, USAF (Ret.), of Naples, Florida was a patriot, a devoted family man, and a servant leader. He celebrated his 98 birthday on May 18 and went to be with the Lord on May 28 of 2016. John was born and raised in Berlin, New Hampshire, the second child of Fred C. Sheldon and Emma Cole Sheldon. After graduating from the University of New Hampshire in 1939 with a B.S. in Accounting, he worked as an accountant with B. Altman & Co. in White Plains, NY before enlisting in the Army Air Corp in November of 1941.

As patriot, John served our country, as an Air Force Officer. John was commissioned a bombardier navigator at Pendleton Army Air Base. After Pearl Harbor he flew anti submarine missions off the northwest and east coasts. In 1943-44, he was part of the Chinese-American Composite Wing 1st Bomb Group Provisional of the 14h Air Force flying out of Kweilin China. John flew 56 missions against Japanese targets in China, Formosa, and Indo-China for which he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and the 7th Order of the Cloud Banner, a Chinese Medal for meritorious service to China presented by Gen. Chiang Kai Shek. In 1946 he received a regular Air Force Commission and served 27 years. His last two assignments were Comptroller at the Headquarters of the Strategic Air Command in Omaha, Nebraska and Budget Officer at the Headquarters of Air Force Logistic Command.

Upon his retirement from the military in 1967, he began a second career in the Office of the Washington State Auditor. There he served as the Assistant Chief Examiner heading four teams that conducted legal, fiscal, and performance audits of major Washington State agencies.

A devoted family man, John met the love of his life, Louise (ne Colombo) of Walla Walla, WA, while stationed in Pendleton, Oregon. They married in Miami Beach Florida in 1942 and celebrated 73 years together before Louise's death last year. John was unabashed in his belief that "She was the best thing that ever happened to me." Together they modeled for their children a sound and loving marriage. John was an active supporter of all of his children's activities, using his servant leadership skills as a Band Booster President, A Swim Team Parent's Association President, A 4-H Assistant Leader, a Boy Scout leader, and chaperoning many dances, bus trips, and other outings. He was frequently the center of informal softball games serving as pitcher to ensure that all kids had a pitch they could hit. While overseas assignments and deployments sometimes physically separated John from his family, they always understood that he was serving his country, protecting them, and were certain of his love.

Col. Sheldon's life embodied the ideal of servant leadership. While living in Olympia, Washington he served on the Tumwater Area Council of the Boy Scouts and was a Boy Scout Troop Committee Chairman for 4 years. He was active in Kiwanis, served as President of his local club, Lt. Governor of the Pacific Northwest District, and for three years served as the District Chairman of New Club Building where he helped bring the benefits of 36 new Kiwanis Clubs to Pacific Northwest communities. He founded and for 20 years administered the Washington State Kiwanis Youth Law Enforcement Career Camp which is still held annually at the Washington State Patrol Academy. To date, over 80% of the program graduates have pursued careers in law enforcement. When they relocated to Florida John became a member of the Kiwanis Club of Pelican Bay where he took on the role of elder statesman and unofficial chaplain. In Naples, John was a board member and served as treasurer of the Arbor Trace Condominium Association and was a communicant at St. Leo's the Great Catholic Church.

Col. Sheldon is survived by his daughters Pamela S. Peveler (Michael) of Louisville, KY and Naples, FL; Kathleen S Verderber (Rudolph) of Naples, FL; Christine S. Fischer (John) of Rochester, NY; and his son, John W. Sheldon II (Renee) of Olympia, WA; six grandchildren Michael Peveler, Shannon Peveler Baumrucker, Allison K. Verderber Herriott, Matthew Fischer, Kathryn Elizabeth Sheldon, and David Sheldon; and seven great grandchildren.

A celebration of life gathering will be held on Thursday, June 2, 2016 at 3:30 p.m. in the Community Room of the Clubhouse at Arbor Trace. At a later date John's cremains along with his wife Louise's will be interred in the Colombo family plot at Mountain View Cemetery in Walla Walla, Washington. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the Washington State Kiwanis Youth Law Enforcement Career Camp, P.O. BOX 381; Olympia, WA 98507.