John Robert Tomassone

John was born on March 5th 1938 in the Bronx, New York where he lived with his parents, John and Irene Tomassone and his sister Marie Tomassone. John attended Manhattan College where he received a bachelor’s degree in Physics. He was discouraged from pursuing a major in Chemistry after discovering that he was partially color blind. He later attended Stonybrook University and received a master’s degree in Computer Science.

On November 30, 1961, John married his wife, Clair Patricia Burns (Tomassone) and together they had three children, John Jr., Lora and Cristin. John worked as a computer engineer for 40 years and that job took him to many different locations with the longest times being in Long Island, New York and Burke, Virginia. Clair preceded John in death on October 16, 1995 after 34 years of marriage.

John retired from his final position at Lockheed Martin in the fall of 1996. Two years later he began a second career as an adjunct professor teaching computer science classes at Strayer and Northern Virginia Community College. He enjoyed teaching classes and was especially attentive to his students as they ventured into a career he had enjoyed very much.

In 2007 John met Ann Smith and the two enjoyed a loving relationship for fifteen years. Together they took many trips, cruises and bus tours both inside and outside of the U.S. He counted three trips to Alaska, the Canadian Rockies, a cruise through the Panama canal and a cruise stopover in Cuba as highlights of his travels. They enjoyed visiting Ann’s sister in Wisconsin and spending time together and with their families.

John was an amateur astronomer and enjoyed using his telescope to look at stars and planets. He enjoyed traveling to Columbia, South Carolina to witness the total solar eclipse in 2017 with his son, John, and grandson, Andrew. He also enjoyed golfing with his friends and family and attending his grandchildren’s sporting activities and school events. He explored genealogy and tracing his Italian roots and sharing that information with his family. He loved to read and had a passion for computers, owning an Osbourne Computer, one of the first home computers ever made in the late 80’s. Later in life he enjoyed learning to make many new dishes from watching the Food Network and enjoyed having his family over for dinner.

John will be remembered by his children, their spouses and his grandchildren; John, Laura, Matthew and Andrew Tomassone, Lora, Mark, Daniel and Benjamin Neel and Cristin, John, Emily, Abby and Sean Pozniak. He will also be remembered by his companion, Ann Smith and her four sons and their families and his brother in law, Mickey Burns.

A Catholic funeral mass will be held on April 11, 2022 at St. Mary of Sorrows Historic Catholic Church at 5612 Ox Rd., Fairfax, Virginia at 11 a.m. A graveside service will immediately follow the funeral mass. Visitation will be held at Demaine Funeral Home at 10565 Main Street, Fairfax, VA 22030 on Sunday April 10th from 4-6 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Central Mission, P.O. Box 96763 Washington, DC 20090 www.missiondc.org