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He also built the Canton synagogue and the two room Gridley schoolhouse. John’s father used to show him these places to impress upon him that we are here to serve others.
John’s inquisitive nature was evident early on. He read most of the books in the Canton Library, for example. In high school (1953), a man came into his Algebra class and asked if there were anyone who was good at math who would like to work on radio direction finding equipment at the Canton Airport? John and another classmate, a girl, signed up.
“I biked to work all summer long. I made $40 a week. It was a handsome sum for those days. I calculated the radiation patterns of Wullenweber DF arrays under the mentoring of wireless pioneer, Dr. Greenleaf Whittier Pickard. Following my first place prize at the Massachusetts Science Fair, I then got a full scholarship to MIT. After college, I was offered jobs in California and Cohasset. I chose the local job because Alicia and I were newly married and we wanted to be near family and start our own.”
Along with choosing a job, came choosing a church. “I came to be an Episcopalian through Alicia. We married at St. Chrysostom’s [Episcopal] Church in Wollaston,” said John. “I loved the prayer book. It set down church fundamentals: the creed, Psalms, services for Worship.” This was very different from the Congregationalist’s upbringing, which had no Episcopal Orders of Ministry (the hierarchy of lay minister, deacon, priest, and bishop), and no Book of Common Prayer
“Being in a church makes life meaningful,” said John, “and we just fell in love with St. Stephen’s.”
John had an epiphany when he was twelve years old that has informed his life decisions ever since. It came to him that the Church’s teachings are real and important. His parents and neighbors really had truth. God has created us with an inner peace and Jesus, His Son, has shown us the Way to a fulfilling life. “Practically everything I do is along these lines, following this epiphany,” said John.
In 1975 in his engineering job, he was working on a Global Positioning System (GPS) which was (is) a military satellite system intended to target nuclear weapons very precisely. The radius of death of one missile is fifty miles. One missile would wipe Boston off the face of the Earth. The US had 10,000 or so megaton missiles with nuclear warheads in silos aimed at the USSR. The USSR had similar capabilities aimed at us.
By accident, a classified document came across his desk one day. It showed where and how the missiles would be targeted in a grand end-of-the-world nuclear holocaust that would put us back into the Stone Age. The immorality of working on such a project led him to quit his job, even though he was the sole provider for a family of four. This was a reawakening of his childhood epiphany.
“It’s not the GPS,” said John. “It’s the sin we attach to the GPS that is the problem. I wasn’t protesting this just out of Christianity. This was sheer stupidity to blow us all up.”
At this time, John was presented with a spiritual opportunity when he was asked by David Lubrano to become Senior Warden of St. Stephen’s under the Rev. Richard Muir. He joined with others and spent several years in peace witnessing: he met many people in the Boston faith
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community who prayed for an end to nuclear weapons. He formed a small witness group, “High Technology Professionals for Peace,” and joined the Board of the Center for the Ministry of the Laity at Andover-Newton Seminary.
He was one of several peace witnesses from St. Stephen’s who paraded in Central Park, New York City holding high the St. Stephen’s banner to demonstrate against a do-nothing stance of United Nations members. He was part of the vigil in front of the Draper Labs in Cambridge protesting the lab’s business of guiding nuclear weapons.
By 1981, John’s company had grown and was incorporated as Seavey Engineering Associates, Inc. (SEA). The company expanded into a new 13,000 square-foot building at 135 King Street on 3A. This facility had large anechoic test chambers and grew to employ 50 people, many from Cohasset. He intentionally built his company in the Light Manufacturing District of his town so that people could have decent employment opportunities right where they lived. (This district was originally created for D.S. Kennedy, the firm which brought John to Cohasset.)
John and Alicia decided years ago to practice sacrificial giving. This has worked out wonderfully. It has brought them in touch with local social change organizations and they have built relationships with many wonderful people. He currently serves on the boards of South Shore Habitat for Humanity, Quincy Crisis Center, and Sharing Inc.. Until recently, John has been the Chair of the Family Selection Committee for the Habitat affiliate. In this capacity over 16 years, he has had the honor of visiting and interviewing 1,500-2,000 prospective families who need affordable housing. This has resulted in Habitat settling 51 families in their homes all built with volunteer labor. He also leads the 7:00 am Saturday Bible Study here at St. Stephen’s, where he has been nourished and refreshed by the spiritual camaraderie.
Currently, John is doing close reading on the subjects of the Resurrection and the nature of personal salvation. The Book and Bible Study Groups at St. Stephen’s are where John and Alicia are trying to figure out what their next steps will be.
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