John Daniel King

John Daniel King was a noted architect that worked in the Newark Archictect Firm from 1932 until the 1970s.

Early Life

John Daniel King was born on May 8, 1904 in his family's home in Newark, New Jersey to John R. King Jr. and Sarah A. King (nee McManus). His grandfather fought in the civil war. When he was three (1907) his father died. His mother resorted to alcohol and could no longer care for her five children. John and his three sisters, Margaret, Mary, and Sadie, were sent to Kingston, Canada where they lived in an orphanage, Sadie died in Canada. John returned to the United States in 1922 at the age of 18.

Career

John attended Pennsylvania University from 1923 until 1931 where he received his masters in Architecture. While in Pennsylvania he met Catherine Rafferty who he married on April 23, 1932 in Newark, NJ.

John got hired as an apprentice with the Newark Architect Firm in 1932. He worked his way up through the ranks and eventually started working on larger projects such as the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., the Federal Building in New York City, NY, and the State Buildings in Charleston, WV. He was named the Superintendant of Buildings in Newark in 1963. He held that title until he retired in the 1970s.

Personal Life

After John D. King was married to Catherine Rafferty in 1932 he had two children with her, John Daniel King Jr. in 1933 and Thomas A. King in 1939.

The family lived in Newark. Then in the 1960s he got involved with a woman (whose name is withheld) in an extramarital affair and she became pregnant. King immediately divorced Catherine and married this woman. The child was born in 1965.

He moved to Irvington, New Jersey with his new family and then to Union, New Jersey in 1978 and remained their until his death on August 2, 1982, he is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, New Jersey.