John J. Fagan

John J. "Jack" Fagan, 94, of Kingston, NY passed away on Thursday, July 9, 2026. Jack was born in Brooklyn in 1932, the oldest of 3 children of Lawrence and Mary Kelly Fagan. (His sister Maureen Rumford and brother Laurence Fagan are deceased.) The family struggled during the Depression, but at a very early age, Jack became an explorer and adventurer. First, he followed on foot the elevated subway lines in Brooklyn. Then with a hard earned or luckily acquired nickel, he rode the subways to Manhattan and beyond. When he had a second nickel, he could get off the train and explore Central Park or walk across the George Washington Bridge. He claimed to have found these wondrous places on his own by the time he was nine or ten years old.

A milestone in his early life was attending Brooklyn Tech High School (Class of 1950). He was thrilled by the school's emphases on learning and personal achievement. Never interested in sports, he instead became the school's meteorologist and the art editor of the yearbook. His course of study was commercial arts. At Cooper Union, he continued his interest in the arts. After a two-year stint in the army, Jack attended City College, majoring in Geology. He was one of the first recipients of a National Science Foundation scholarship--a program created after the Soviet Union's success with Sputnik--which allowed him to earn a PhD in Geology from Columbia University. A chance meeting with a teacher from City College on a crosstown bus in Manhattan led to a one-semester teaching job at City College. It turned into a 27-year career. While teaching, Jack published a geology text book and a manual on ecology and the environment. He also continued painting, including sessions at the Art Students League in New York City.

From age 19, Jack traveled to the western U.S. almost every year to study or camp and hike. Some of these trips were made as a leader for college outdoor groups and others as the instructor of summer field classes for Geology majors at City College. He also made memorable trips to Scandinavia, India, Nepal, Afghanistan, and later with his wife Lin, to England, Switzerland, Malta, and Mexico.

After a career of teaching Geology at City College of CUNY and many adventures as a traveler and hiker, John J. "Jack" Fagan retired to the Hudson Valley in 1992. The lures were the Hudson River and the Shawangunk Mountains. He became a volunteer cartographer and artist for the Mohonk Preserve and his last book, "Scenes and Walks in the Northern Shawangunks," was published in 1998.

After retirement, Jack and his wife spent many summers traveling and camping in Utah and Colorado and many winters in southern Arizona. Although the attractions of the west were strong, they never overcame the feeling that they were "easterners." Jack is survived by his wife and companion of 40 years, Lin (Linda Lawson).

Arrangements entrusted to Keyser Funeral & Cremation Service, Inc., 326 Albany Ave., Kingston, NY 12401. A graveside service will take place on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at 10am at Montrepose Cemetery, 75 Montrepose Ave., Kingston, NY. A tribute for Jack may be found at KeyserFuneralSerivce.com, where you may leave memories and expressions of sympathy for his family. Memorial donations can be made to the Mohonk Preserve or The Friends of the Shawangunks.