John Friedman, Mercersburg Academy

John Ramsey Friedman was one of two children (sister Barbara) born to William Frederick and Elizebeth Smith Friedman (Clare Elizebeth Friedman) who many might recall were famous World War 2 codebreakers. In fact, Elizebeth is referenced as "America's first female cryptanalyst" and she met her husband, William, while they were working together at the Riverbank Laboratories in Geneva Illinois. John's father, William Frederick Friedman ran the research division of the Army's Signal Intelligence Service in the 1930s. According to the 1940s Census, John was 13 living with his sister Barbara, age 16, his father William, age 49, and his mother Elizabeth, age 47, at 3932 Military Road in Washington D.C. At the time he had completed the 6th grade. John Friedman was married first to Roberta Wensley (1930 - 1991) in 1953 and they didn't have children. John then married Judith Andrews (1929 - 2007) - it was the 2nd marriage for them both - on December 21, 1967. They were married for 40 years and had four children together. He worked in educational productions for AT&T and was one of the founding volunteers of the Big Arts program on Sanibel Island. He helped develop the music programming for Big Arts in the early 1970s and brought musical talent to Schein Performance Hall. See John Ramsey Friedman: Obituary for more details about his involvement with the Big Arts program.