John W. Jack Larned

JOHN W. "JACK" LARNED

John W. "Jack" Larned, age 89, Raski Road, Benton, died at 1:10 p. m. Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at the Geisinger Medical Center, Danville where he was a patient for 10 days.

Born on November 6, 1920 in Tamaqua, he was a son of the late Harold and Mary (Gensemer) Larned. His early life was spent in Bloomsburg where he was a 1938 graduate of Bloomsburg High School.

Jack was an internationally known fine artist, having studied at the Ecole Des Beaux Arts and the Academie Grande Chaumiere, Paris, France. He also studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia; the Art Students League and Asia Institute, New York City; and with Hans Hoffman in New York City and Provincetown, Mass.

He taught art at Bloomsburg University and the Rhode Island School of Design, among others, and was the co-founder and teacher in the Benton Art School, along with his late wife Eleni.

Jack maintained a home in the Benton area since the 1940's and also resided in Provincetown and Wellfleet, Mass. His abstract expressionist oil paintings were shown in numerous galleries across the United States and Europe. Collections of his work are housed in many United States locations, the Czech Republic and Japan.

Jack served as a Battalion Communications Chief, with the rank of Sergeant, as a member of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the famous 101st Screaming Eagles Airborne Division of the US Army from 1942 to 1945 in Europe.

He was preceded in death by his wife, the former Eleni Pappavasiliew on July 21, 1999.

Surviving are a daughter, Daria N. Larned and a granddaughter, Eleni Larned, both of Benton and a cousin, Mary Elizabeth, wife of Frank Fisk, Bloomsburg.

A memorial service will be held in the future at a time and place to be announced.