John Michael Enright, 70, Former City Council Member

By KATHLEEN NIXON
January 18, 2013
Falls Church Times Staff

Former long time Falls Church resident, and City Council member,  John Michael Enright, 70, died at home, Monday, January 7, 2013, with his wife Louisa and his sister Maryann Enright at his side.  John chose the outstanding staff of Kno-Wal-Lin Hospice and Dr. Ira Mandel to manage the last stages of his cancer, and they kept him so comfortable that he was out in the community up until the Saturday preceding his death.

John attended St. Clements High School (1960) and Tufts University (1964), both in Medford, MA.  He graduated from Tufts with a BA in Government.  Having completed the Tufts’ ROTC program, John was sworn in as an officer in the United States Air Force and was assigned to the 544^th Aerospace Reconnaissance Technical Wing at Offutt Air Force Base in Offutt, Nebraska, where he worked in intelligence (1964-1968).  At Offutt, he met and married, in 1966, Louisa Philpott Enright, the daughter of Lt. Gen. Jammie M. and Lucy Bryan Philpott.

John worked at Planning Research Corporation from 1968 to 1992, first working in Intelligence Systems and then moving to Civil Systems in 1978, where he was made a Vice President.  He worked at Andover, MA-based Dynamics Research Corporation from 1992 to 2004 as their Washington, DC, marketing representative.

John and Louisa lived in Falls Church, VA, from 1968 to 2004.  John, at 32, was elected to the Falls Church City Council in 1974, the youngest councilman ever elected at that time.  He was a Commissioner of the Northern Virginia Planning District.  He retired to Camden, Maine, in 2004, and John often expressed that these years were the happiest of his life.

In Camden, John was on the Board of Directors of the Camden Area Futures Group, The Coastal Counties Workforce, The Camden Conference, and The Community School.  And, John served as Roger Moody’s Treasurer during Moody’s two successful campaigns for Knox County Commissioner.  John was a member of the Camden Rotary and the MidCoast Forum for Foreign Relations.

Even from Maine, John stayed in touch with Falls Church, often providing comments in the Falls Church Times and other local publications.  In particular, he was an avid reader of the Falls Church Times Food column and often communicated with the author about his experiences with the Falls Church Farmers Market and area restaurants.

John was predeceased by his parents, John Joseph Enright and Norah T. O’Connell of Ireland and Somerville, MA.  John is survived by his wife, Louisa; his sister Maryann Enright, a Sister of Saint Joseph in Boston, MA, and his brother, James Gerard Enright of Surprise, AZ; his sons and his daughter-in-laws J. Michael Enright and Tamara Kelly Enright and Bryan J. Enright  and Corinne Casacio Enright of Isle of Palms, SC; and his grandchildren Bowen, Kelly, Talula, Wilhelmina,  and Ailey.

John’s life was celebrated at the Camden Congregational Church in a service led by T. Richard Snyder and Maryann Enright, csj.  The Long Funeral Home has a memory book and information on donations to local organizations at their web site, www.longfuneralhomecamden.org.  And, donations can be made also to Kno-Wal-Lin Hospice, 170 Pleasant St., Rockland, ME 04841.