Mr. Lister graduated from West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys, where he played basketball, and he served in the Marine Corps in the States at the end of World War II.
He earned a bachelor's degree while on a basketball scholarship at St. Joseph's University in 1951. During the Korean War, he was called back to active duty with the Marines and was stationed in China. He remained in the Marine Corps Reserve, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1975.
Mr. Lister was in the first class to graduate from Villanova University Law School in 1956. For many years, he was an actuary with Marsh and McClennan, an insurance brokerage firm. From 1975, until he became ill three years ago, he operated his own actuarial firm from his home in Drexel Hill and later in Villanova.
For many years, Mr. Lister was a basketball referee for local high school and college games, and for 54 years he refereed wheelchair basketball games. He also volunteered for 10 years as a volleyball referee at the Special Olympics at Villanova University.
Mr. Lister's wife of 30 years, Mary Agnes Jackson Lister, died in 1983. Since 1988, he had been married to Helen Fitzgerald Lister.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by sons John Jr. and Gerald; daughters Maryann Vassalotti-Cox, Kathleen Fuscsick, Colleen Deckert, and Janine Moser; stepchildren Ellen F. McCarel, Elaine F. Wright, and Emmet A. Fitzgerald III; 23 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.
Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. tomorrow at John Stretch Funeral Home, 236 E. Eagle Rd., Havertown. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Thomas of Villanova Church on the university campus. Burial will be in SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Marple Township.
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEWS
Philly.com Promotions
