John Elsemore Landgraf

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Landgraf, John Elsemore Born December 29, 1928, in Highland Park, Michigan. John died peacefully on February 13, 2017, at Our Lady of Peace Hospice in St. Paul, MN, of brain cancer. Preceded in death by his parents and two siblings, he is survived by his life partner Elizabeth Burr of St. Paul; his brother-in-law Douglas Heidenreich of St. Paul; his adopted son Samir Hanef of Durham, NC; his stepdaughter Hilary Thompson of Raleigh, NC; and his nephew Eric Hansen. John graduated from Michigan State College in 1950 with a B.S. in botany, earning an M.S. in horticulture there in 1952. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953, he served with the Medical Corps in Washington, D.C., until 1955. In 1962 he completed his doctorate in molecular biology at the University of Tübingen in Germany. He then did graduate study at Tübingen in biblical archaeology, history, and theology. From 1965 to 1980, he lived in Jerusalem as an archaeologist and unofficial social worker. In 1980 he published a major study on the ceramics of the Byzantine period. John was a man of high intelligence, integrity, generosity, and compassion. He participated in the third civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. A devoted supporter of the Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu, he regarded the U.S. government's one-sided favoring of Israel as a danger to world peace. The first Gulf War of 1991 led John to become a war tax resister. He was a member of the 1996 Voices in the Wilderness delegation carrying medicines to Iraq. Until the end of his life he maintained an active interest in ancient ceramics, while strongly committed to justice for the Palestinians and others, anti-war efforts, and environmental protection. John will be greatly missed by all who knew him. A memorial service will be held in March at the Olivet Congregational Church in St. Paul. Memorials preferred to Women Against Military Madness, Veterans for Peace, or Our Lady of Peace Hospice and Home Care.

Published on February 19, 2017