John Hollister Redgate

John Hollister Redgate, a retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel and educator died Wednesday, August 12, 2020 in his home. Born in Bridgeport in 1937, he was the son of John C. (“Bus”) and Mary Hollister Redgate. Colonel Redgate enlisted in the U.S. Navy reserves in 1954 and joined the Marine Corps Officer Candidate Program in 1957.  He graduated from Fairfield Prep as senior class president and salutatorian, Fairfield University, and Pepperdine University where he earned a Master’s degree in education. Commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1959, Colonel Redgate served in a variety of command and staff assignments. He served in combat as a unit commander in the Vietnam War, was a Distinguished Graduate of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and was the personal aid to Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, General Louis H. Wilson, USMC, during the final years of the war in the mid-70s. A number of Colonel Redgate‘s assignments involved training and instructing at Quantico, Virginia. He commanded an infantry Battalion in the western Pacific in the late 70s then return to Quantico as the Deputy Director of the Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School. It was during Colonel Redgate‘s command of Battalion Landing Team 2/4 in 1979 that a typhoon struck their 1500-man training camp at Camp Fuji, Japan, setting off a series of explosions and fires. 13 Marines were killed and over 70 injured. The official record of the event concluded that it was “a tragic act of nature“and that the “astonishing recovery of the command to full combat readiness was the direct result of Colonel Redgate‘s determined, inspirational leadership. “Immediately prior to his retirement from active-duty, Colonel Redgate was the director of the Marine Corps Plans and Policies Division in Washington, DC. He was an active member of the Marine Corps Association, the Military Officers Association of America, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. Colonel Redgate spent the majority of his years after retirement from the Marine Corps in Connecticut as an educator. He was a writing teacher and Dean of Students at his alma mater, Fairfield Prep; a student advisor and assistant professor of writing and communication at Sacred Heart University; and he taught writing at Norwalk Community College. He is listed in the 1994 addition of “Who’s Who among America‘s Teachers”. He retired from teaching when he and his wife moved to Alexandria, Virginia in 2001. Some years later they returned to Connecticut and lived at the Meadows in Fairfield near two of their four children. Colonel Redgate is survived by his wife of 59 years, Nancy Wildes Redgate, originally of Washington, DC; his son, Michael Gordon Redgate of Monroe; three daughters: Megan Redgate Martin (Dr. Tony DMD) of Columbia South Carolina; Kate Redgate Hall (Colonel Dave USMC Retired) of Lexington, Virginia; and Amie Redgate Henderson (Peter) of Southport, Connecticut; three grandchildren, Molly Elizabeth Redgate, Sean Michael Redgate, and Staff Sergeant John Tyler Hall (USMC); two step grandsons, Kyle and Peter Charles Henderson, his brother, Thomas J. Redgate and his wife, Betsy; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by two brothers, Frank W. and William T. Redgate. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to the Col. John H. Redgate Memorial Scholarship in honor of his son, Corporal Michael G.Redgate, USMC and his son’s fellow Marines of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines who served in Beirut, Lebanon from April - December 1983. Donations can be made at Marine CorpsScholarship Foundation, Inc., ATTN: Named Scholarships, PO Box 3008, Princeton, NJ 08543–3008 or online at www.mcsf.org. Interment with Full Military Honors will take place in Arlington National Cemetery. Funeral services will be private. To send online condolences please visit www.redgatehennessy.com