Saturday, September 6, 2008

John Vincent Ello, 71, a retired Air Force colonel who later directed a science advisory group for the Defense Department, died Aug. 17 at his home in Burke. He had a series of heart attacks after suffering from lung cancer for four years.

Col. Ello was a 1960 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and immediately transferred to the Air Force. He was a missile crew commander with the Strategic Air Command and served five years in Germany as executive officer to the commander of the U.S. Air Force in Europe.

When he retired in 1985, he was a deputy military assistant for international technology and trade at the Pentagon. His decorations included the Defense Superior Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal and three Air Force Commendation Medals.

As a civilian, Col. Ello spent five years as an assistant deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology and trade. From 1990 to 2002, he was executive director of the Defense Science Board, an advisory group to the military consisting of top scholars. He helped establish the Eugene G. Fubini Award, named for a prominent engineer and Defense Department official, honoring significant contributions to the Defense Department in an advisory capacity.

Col. Ello, who was born in New York, spent two years working on Wall Street and served in the New York National Guard before enrolling at West Point. He attended law school at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., and received a master's degree in research and development systems management from the University of Southern California in 1968. He received a second master's degree, in political science, from Alabama's Auburn University in 1972.

He had lived in Burke since 1978 and was a Scout leader and volunteer with the Boy Scouts. He also volunteered with the West Point Class of 1960 as part of the Army Wounded Warrior Program, assisting recovering soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Col. Ello was a member of the West Point glee club and won Air Force awards for public speaking. He enjoyed golf, skiing, crossword puzzles and studying history.

Survivors include his wife of 47 years, Marilyn Hall Ello of Burke; two children, Darcy E. Woodward of Fairfax County and Mark C. Ello of Boston; a sister; and three grandchildren.

-- Matt Schudel