John J. “McD” McDermott

John J. “McD” McDermott
January 5, 1932 – September 30, 2018

I regret to inform you that John J. McDermott died this past Sunday morning. He was under the loving care of his beloved companion of thirty-six years and wife of twenty-seven years, Patricia. He has entered the oscillating drama of being and non-being, the boundless, bequeathed to us by Anaximander, the ancient Greek philosopher. McDermott, as he was known to be called, was born on January 5th, 1932 in New York City, where he lived for forty-five years. For twenty-five of those years he taught at Queens College, CUNY, Fordham University, and Stony Brook University, SUNY. He did his undergraduate work at St. Francis College in Brooklyn and his Ph.D. at Fordham University. He is the loving and proud parent of five children, Marise, Michele, David, Brian, and Tara, and one step-daughter Lynne Elizabeth. They are all in the helping professions and have been a joy to him. He offers deep gratitude to Virginia P. McDermott for the splendid care of and for their five children for more than sixty-five years. He is the brother of five siblings, Mary, Ann, Joe, Robert, and Raymond. They, too, are all in the helping professions. He is also survived by six grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and numerous nieces and nephews.

At his death, McDermott was University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Humanities and Humanities in Medicine at Texas A&M University. He was also Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence, Regents Professor, and recognized as the Minnie Stevens Foundation’s Piper Professor. He came to Texas A&M University in July of 1977 as Department Head of Philosophy and is proud to have been a member of the Texas A&M University community ever since. McDermott was instrumental in founding the Faculty Senate in 1983, Charter Speaker 1983 – 1984, and Faculty Senator 1983 – 1986. He also founded the Department of Humanities in Medicine and was the driving force in founding and directing the Community of Faculty Retirees. McDermott received four awards from the Association of Former Students, two in research and two in teaching, and the Distinguished Service Award from the College of Liberal Arts. In 1969 he was named as a Harbison Award Winner, one of the ten most gifted teachers in the nation, by the Danforth Foundation. In 2016 McDermott was also acknowledged as one of the fifty most influential living philosophers in the world by BestSchools.org This honor was conferred largely due to his labor in turning around the study of Classical American Philosophy, then moribund, both through editorial work in internationally acclaimed critical editions and bibliographies, and through either founding, co-founding, or serving as a lifetime fellow in five major societies in American Philosophy and the American Montessori Society.

He hereby makes an amend and apology to all those he has hurt for whatever reason. He thanks all those who have helped him over the years, in both good and bad times. He is grateful to the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous and to Patricia McDermott such that he can say that, at his death, he was in his thirtieth year of continuous sobriety. McDermott is pre-deceased by his parents, John J. and Helen Kelly McDermott, and by his granddaughter Maia Felisse. Most important is his eternal gratitude and affection for Patricia as his companion, his advocate, his wife, and erotic presence in his life beyond compare. I send blessings to all who have crossed my path and wishes for a peaceful death. Try to remember that the nectar is in the journey! Farewell.

Graveside services will be private. A public reception for friends, friends of Bill W., family and colleagues will be held from 1 – 3:30p.m., Saturday, October 13, 2018, at the “McDermott Library” in College Station. All are welcome.

Memorial contributions are being collected in his memory for the “John J. McDermott Fellowship in Humanities” endowment at the Texas A&M Foundation. Gifts can be made by check to 401 George Bush Dr, College Station, TX 77840 or online via https://www.txamfoundation.com/How-To-Give/Honorary-And-memorial.aspx. Be sure and include the endowment name in your gift notations.

The family wishes to thank Brazos Valley Hospice (especially Truby Toner and Steven Higginbotham, M.D.), our private caregivers and Britt Allen P.T., and Joel Richards, M.D., for their very patient and kind care of McDermott during a difficult time.

Express condolences at CallawayJones.com

Condolences

  1. I was saddened to hear of the passing of Dr. John! He was an inspiration and dear friend to daddy, Bill Brekenfeld, and I know his wry humor and sharp wit will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

  2. Brian & Lori:
    Saddened for your loss. T’is clear where Brian’s wisdom comes from and the greatest way to honor you Dad is to carry his wisdom forward.

  3. John was a pillar of strength to me in my work with AAUP (American Association of University Professors). His push to create the Faculty Senate at TAMU and to have us thereby removed from AAUP censure remains, for me, his most enduring legacy at TAMU for his fellow faculty. On a personal note John was a mentor to me in my faculty career, and he was a mentor to my older daughter, who majored in Philosophy and has always said that, in her working life, what she learned from John and his colleagues was “how to reason.”

  4. John was my teacher in 1975, then a friend, mentor, inspiration, role model and designated official toastmaster at our wedding party in 1980. I have never met anyone who threw himself into life with such abandon, doing and suffering (as Dewey would have said) with uncompromising intensity.

    As John’s beloved William James wrote to his brother Henry, “It is the amount of life which a man feels that makes you value his mind.” No one ever felt such an amount of life.

  5. Dear McDermott Family,
    John took an interest in me when I was a graduate student at Fordham in the mid 1970 s. He went on to mentor me through a dissertation and remained a powerful presence in my professional life ever since. I am grateful for his generous spirit and moments of sage advice. My best days in the classroom are a small expression of my gratitude to him, and they remind me of his caring genius as an educator.

  6. Dear McDermott Family,
    I’ll always remember the kindness John showed me as a junior colleague in the department. We will miss him very much.

  7. He changed so many lives for the better, and the many fruits of his labors continue to do so. Future generations will find in McDermott what he found in James and Dewey. The opportunity to be his student was one of the most welcome turns of good fortune I have yet known.

  8. Marise & Family
    Deepest condolences to you & your family upon the passing of your father
    Such an amazing man & legacy he leaves for his
    Know how very proud your dad was of your leadership and accomplishments
    Thinking of you & your family With deepest sympathy . Caryn

  9. As One Who Embarked on The A.A. Journey The Same Year Year- 1989 – as ” John” , I Can
    Attest There Was No One More Dedicated , Helpful and Inspirational Than “John”
    To Patricia – What a Wonderful Presence You Both Brought into My Journey Upon
    Occasion . He Helped Me In Ways That Have Opened Doors Beyond The A.A. Experience – “Varieties of Religious Experience ” by William James has Become My Lifetime
    Companion – and Every Time I Read A Passage , I Think of ” John” . His Contribution To Life and To My Life Has Been Of The Highest Order. The Earth Is a Better
    Place because You Walked Upon It. – D.A. McDowell – October 11 , 2018

  10. When I was an undergraduate at Queens College a classmate recommended Dr. John’s course on aesthetic philosophy. After I retired over fifteen years earlier I began a writing project in order to explore the next direction my life would take. The direction it took me was more writing, which led to a study of how to encourage other people to find fulfillment in the way I had. In order to get ideas about how to teach the subject I watched Dr. John on YouTube. I learned that I was following Dr. John’s course on aesthetic philosophy by taking on a challenging project in order to write more cogently about what I did. It was another instance when I took Dr. John’s advice, “Learn by doing.”

  11. I had Dr. McDermott for two philosophy courses at TAMU in the early 2000s. He spent so much of his personal time talking to me about my life, my past, how it influenced me, what I could become from it, and more. He warned me against taking a certain job (Baylor), and I took it anyway. He was right, and I always meant to send him a letter saying so. I am at a much better job now, and the wisdom of his advice carried me through that difficult time of transition. He likely would not remember me, but I will always remember him, his dog’s portrait, his library, his pipe, his garden, his loving wife, and his kind words.

  12. I have just learned of Professor McDermott’s death and I want to express my gratitude. He was my teacher in the summer of 1997 in Berkeley, where I also had the pleasure of meeting Patricia. I have very good memories of the lessons and our talks during breaks. He made me think and see things from a different perspective and inspired me. He called me “Mr. Bonn”.
    I will always remember him fondly.

  13. Professor McDermott fundamentally altered the course of my life. When I first met him I was intimidated, at the time I had no sense of direction and no clue what I was doing, and he could tell. In truth, I was absolutely terrified of the world I had found myself in. That first conversation, and every other after it, was surreal – he read me like a book. I took multiple classes with McDermott, including more than one independent study. With every meeting I peeled back more layers of text and of my own life than I had at any point before. He had that effect on people, and I – along with a great many others, I am sure – am grateful for it.
    My condolences to Patricia and the family, I am sure even after a year and a half it is no less difficult. My heart goes out to you all.

  14. I was just writing an appreciation of my favorite college professors for my 22-year-old daughter and J.J. McDermott came to mind. Looking him up, I stumbled on this memorial. I took every class I could from him during my years at A&M from 1981-85, and I had a special fondness for his Philosophy of Literature course. He changed the trajectory of my life, leading me to become an educator myself.

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