John Walter Critzer

John Walter Critzer, 76, of Powell, Ohio, passed away on December 21, 2023. John was born on May 31, 1947, in Wilmington, Delaware, to his mother Helen Sophie Botolinski, and his father John Lewis Critzer. John was the oldest of three brothers. His brother Bob Critzer was a year younger. His brother Roddy Critzer was three years younger. John is survived by his loving wife, Robyn Redinger, his stepson Matthew, his brother Robert and his wife Janet, and his brother Rodney and his wife Carol. Although John was a pudgy little kid but when he was in high school, he worked hard to lose weight so he could join the armed services. When he graduated from high school, John enlisted in the army. John served in the army for 2 and ½ years and spent two tours in Vietnam. He entered the service on January 17, 1967. In 1968 he reenlisted for a second tour of duty. His mother was understandably not happy about his going back to Vietnam again. In Vietnam John was assigned to work on a base in supply. The base had been cleared with Agent Orange and because John was almost always on the base, he had significant exposure to the aftermath of Agent Orange. Robyn, his wife, thought John’s exposure to Agent Orange might have been one of the factors that contributed to his being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when he was only 66 years old. The only time John served on the front lines was during the Tet Offensive. Being in a war zone for over two years must have been a traumatizing experience. John had war stories, but he did not talk often about his time in Vietnam. John received the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Good Service Medal. John was honorably discharged from the army as an SP5 on August 22, 1969. When John came home from the army, he got a job delivering mail on the campus of the University of Delaware. Delivering mail at the university helped John decide he would like to be a student there. He attended the University of Delaware in Newark and received a B.A., an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Political Science. After John received his Ph.D. from the University of Delaware in 1981, he was a professor at Mount St. Mary’s University in Fredrick, Maryland, for six years. He had a 1-year teaching position at the University of West Virginia in Morganton. Finally, he was a political science professor at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, CT, from 1989 through 2014. When John retired in 2014, he was named Professor Emeritus of Political Science. With his good friend and colleague, Kul Rai, John authored the book Affirmative Action and the University: Race, Ethnicity and Gender in Higher Education Employment. He also authored dozens of papers and presented at numerous conferences throughout his academic career. John met his wife, Robyn, on Match.com when internet dating sites were in their infancy. They met in 2002 and got married in three different ceremonies in 2004. They married on January 17th in Wilmington, Delaware, so John’s parents and brothers could attend the ceremony. In March John was delivering an academic paper at a convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Robyn decided to go with him, and they got married at the Little White Wedding Chapel on March 19th. Finally, on July 9, 2004, they had a big wedding ceremony for their friends in Connecticut at the carousel at Light House Point in New Haven, Connecticut. John retired from teaching in the spring of 2014 when he was 66 years old. John, Robyn, and Matthew moved from Connecticut to Ohio in 2021 to be near Robyn’s family. John, Robyn, and Matthew had a wonderful life together. They travelled to Europe on three separate occasions. They took ballroom dance lessons. They enjoyed visiting their extended families in Delaware, Florida, and Ohio. Their home was always filled with fun, laughter, dogs, and cats. A funeral service will be held at 1:00 PM on Thursday, December 28, 2023, at the Rutherford Funeral Home in Powell, Ohio. John Critzer was a wonderful, sweet, kind, and gentle man. He will be missed terribly by his family and friends.

John Walter Critzer

May 31, 1947 - December 21, 2023