John Edward Calhoun

CORNWALL — John Edward Calhoun died peacefully at home on the evening of April 30, 2026, at Cathedral Pines Farm in Cornwall, Connecticut, surrounded by family. He was 86 years old. Born March 20, 1940, in Torrington, Connecticut, to parents Francis “Frank” Ellinwood Calhoun and Mary “Polly” Everett Swift Calhoun, John was the fourth of six children who grew up on the family’s dairy farm located in Cornwall’s Coltsfoot Valley. His family’s multi-generational presence in Cornwall dated back to 1792, fostering in John a deep sense of stewardship for the valley that stayed with him throughout his life.

John attended Cornwall Consolidated School through the eighth grade and graduated from The Hotchkiss School in the class of 1958. He attended Colby College in Maine for one year before graduating from Windham College in Vermont in 1964. At Windham, he met and married Elizabeth “Timme” Quay and had two sons, Nathan and Christopher, before divorcing in 1968.

As a young man, John ran the family dairy farm, taught English at the Rectory School, and ran a successful landscaping business with his first cousin John “Denny” Frost. In 1970, John married Nancy Clark Gray at her family’s summer home on Yelping Hill in Cornwall before immigrating to New Brunswick, Canada, in 1975. There, John and Nancy built Shikatehawk Farm in Glassville, began raising llamas, and had two daughters, Caroline and Sarah.

After eight years of farming in Canada, John and Nancy returned to Cornwall in 1983 as their daughters began their schooling. Together, on a treasured piece of Calhoun land, Nancy designed and John built their 18th-century style farmhouse. There they established Cathedral Pines Farm, set on a hillside apple orchard overlooking Cornwall Village and bordered by its 200-year-old namesake—a 42-acre grove of old-growth white pines recognized as one of the largest, most significant remaining stands east of the Mississippi River.

This historic forest was a testament to the family’s legacy of conservation. The Calhouns originally purchased the preserve in 1883 to prevent logging, later donating it to The Nature Conservancy in 1967. The land was ultimately deeded to the Cornwall Conservation Trust in 2020. Decades before that final transfer, however, a tornado decimated most of the ancient pines in July 1989. The destruction created years of daunting cleanup—a monumental task for which John was uniquely suited, given his penchant for the outdoors and his prowess with a chainsaw.

At Cathedral Pines Farm, John and Nancy spent the next 40 years building a life as hardworking entrepreneurs, breeding and selling llamas and running a bed and breakfast; raising their daughters; and contributing to Cornwall’s civic life. John served as Cornwall’s first Zoning Enforcement Officer for 15 years; as a trustee of The Cornwall Library for 17 years; and as treasurer for the Cornwall Cemetery Association for nearly 20 years. But it is perhaps his unofficial role as steward of Coltsfoot Valley for which John will be best remembered. As part of an intergenerational team of Calhoun family members, John worked alongside his relatives to navigate the legal complexities of subdividing the family land and incorporating the Coltsfoot Valley Association in 1989 to permanently protect and conserve the valley. Well into his retirement, and despite living with chronic lymphocytic leukemia for twenty years, John spent countless hours bush hogging the valley and trimming Birdseye Brook—a labor of love that kept Coltsfoot Valley the natural focal point of Cornwall Village.

John found his greatest peace in nature, relishing its colors, sounds, and especially the birdsong. Often, he took in this natural world while wielding a maul, methodically splitting and stacking firewood—a source of pride right up to the end of his life. A lover of history, literature, classical music, and language, John possessed a sharp wit and sense of humor that belied his quiet reticence. His facility with words often shone through in memorable puns, witty jokes, and well-timed quips delivered from the head of his hand-hewn dining table—much to the delight of family and friends enjoying dinner and drinks on the hill. Cathedral Pines was a hub for those in John and Nancy’s orbit, and together they were the ultimate hosts, providing a seemingly effortless hospitality fueled by Nancy’s home-cooked meals, John’s well-provisioned bar, and his masterfully built, roaring fires.

John was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Polly Calhoun; his paternal grandparents, John Edward and Marjorie Ellinwood Calhoun; his maternal grandparents, William Everett and Mable Alice Runner Swift; his siblings, David Swift Calhoun, Gordon Swift Calhoun, and Susan Gordon Calhoun Heminway; and his brother-in-law, James Callender Heminway, Jr.

He is survived by his loving wife of nearly 56 years, Nancy Gray Calhoun; their daughter, Caroline Claire Calhoun and her husband, Declan Patrick Curtin; and their daughter, Sarah Clark Calhoun and her fiancée, Emily Claire Garlough.

He is also survived by his siblings, Theodore Warner Calhoun (Karrin) and Faith Jade Calhoun; sister-in-law, Mimi Kentta Calhoun; sons, Nathan John McKay (Kate) and Christopher David Calhoun-McKay (Susanne); grandchildren, Colby John Calhoun McKay, Mackenzie Elizabeth McKay, and their mother, Dawn Marie Clark; grandchildren, Jonathan William Calhoun McKay and Liv Christine Calhoun McKay; step-grandchildren, Ryan Patrick, Brayden Michael, Collin Phillip, Brennan Blake, and Ronan Allen Curtin; as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, extended Calhoun relatives, and dear Gray family members.

John’s passing leaves a larger-than-life hole in the fabric of the Calhoun family and the Cornwall community. He will be dearly missed.

The family held a private celebration of John’s life on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Cathedral Pines Farm. To honor John’s deep Cornwall roots and lifelong love of local history, memorial gifts may be made to the Cornwall Historical Society or The Cornwall Library.

Online expressions of sympathy may be sent to the family by visiting www.thurstonrowefuneralhome.com