GREENWICH, Conneticut — John B. Caron died peacefully on Jan. 15, 2020 in the company of his loving wife and family in Greenwich, Connecticut.
John was born on July 1, 1924 in Chicago. He graduated from University of Notre Dame with a degree in Chemical Engineering and served in the U.S. Navy during WWII.
He was Chairman and CEO of Caron International, a textile manufacturing company with operations in four states and five overseas countries, mostly in Europe. His father, O.J. Caron, opened Caron Spinning on May 8, 1915 in Rochelle. John and his wife, Ann, lived in Tilton Park until 1966, when they moved to the east coast to open the New York headquarters of Caron International.
In addition to running the company, John had a passion for education which led him to become a Trustee of University of Notre Dame and Chairman of the Academic and Faculty Committee, the Chairman of the Board of Whitby Montessori School where his six children graduated, and for many years the leader of the Great Books Discussion group at the Greenwich Library.
He was also deeply involved in poverty alleviation and Catholic causes, serving as the Chairman of the Board of Technoserve, a non-profit organization that provides business solutions to rural poverty in over 30 countries, Chairman of the Board of the National Catholic Reporter, an independent weekly newspaper, and Chairman of the St. Michael’s Church building committee.
John had a love of the outdoors and adventure which brought him skiing, camping, fishing and cycling around the world with family and friends.
He is survived by his wife, Ann, and their children, John (Dede), Peter, Paul (Andrea), Mark (Lisa), Elizabeth (Latif) and Cathleen (Woody), and 10 grandchildren, Joe, Frank, Tom, Maddie, Robbie, Ian, Alex, Jessica, Nick and Marley.