John Pelissier

John (Jean) Armand Pélissier, born January 19, 1925 in Brignoles, France, died in Lynchburg, Virginia, at the age of 100, on January 2, 2026.

He was the son of Gustave and Marguerite Pélissier, and brother to nine siblings.

He married Emma Marie Loubière in 1949, in Paris, France. Together, they moved to Dakar, Senegal, where their first daughter, Bernadette, was born; and then to the United States, where John completed his Phd in crop and soil science, and where they had three more children: Michael, Marguerite, and Catherine.

Over the course of his long career, John worked for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Syria, Esso Research and Engineering in New Jersey, the United Nations Development Program in Jordan, and then the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank), in Washington, D.C., where he remained for the bulk of his career. Dedicated to creating robust food production systems, he contributed to agricultural development in a range of countries in Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. He and Emma retired to Amherst, Virginia in 1987, where John played a key role in the local Catholic church, including the building of their own facility. He also launched himself into a “second career,” volunteering to establish and serve as the Executive Director of the Amherst chapter of Habitat for Humanity, which has since constructed 42 homes in the area.

John moved to Westminster Canterbury retirement community in 2010, when Emma, his wife of almost 60 years, died. There he met his second wife, Laura Lee Slayton, who died in 2014. John was an active participant in Westminster activities. He made many close friends there, stayed actively engaged in the Amherst church community, and remained an avid gardener as long as his vision permitted. John is survived by his four children (Bernadette, Michael, Marguerite, and Catherine), four grandchildren (Kether, Lyndon, Levi, and Christian), and four great-grandchildren (Ian, Grant, Alexis, and Zion).

John Pélissier will be remembered as a loving and dedicated husband and father; a strong Catholic; and a knowledgeable and engaged citizen of the world. He loved classical and bluegrass music, good food and wine, good (and sometimes off-color) jokes, travel, the mountains, and plants of all kinds. He was generous to a fault. He will be sorely missed by all those he touched.

In lieu of flowers, John asked that donations be made to Amherst County Habitat for Humanity.

 A memorial service will be held on January 19th, at 11:00 a.m., at Saint Francis Assisi Church in Amherst (332 S. Main St., Amherst). The service will be followed by a potluck luncheon.

Tharp Funeral Home and Crematory, Lynchburg is assisting the family.