John Gemmill

John Jamison Gemmill, 64, died on September 6 , 2026. He was born February 7, 1962.

John grew up near Tenleytown, an upper Northwest neighborhood in Washington, DC, with his parents and sister Liz. He was a rambunctious kid who spent his days in the neighborhood hanging out with his friends and sister in the tree house, biking to People's Drugstore or Sullivan's(local toy store)with his friends, working/playing on the family computer, playing Dungeons & Dragons,and skateboarding.
One summer, he and his close friends Gordon and George dug an underground fort that became the event of that summer and they continued to maintain that fort for years to come. He and Liz shared a paper route delivering the Washington Star newspaper for a couple years, every afternoon right after school. Every summer the family spent days at Palisades Pool in Maryland, travelled across country to visit extended family in Arkansas and then late in the summer would drive down to the Outer Banks for family beach time.

John earned a master's degree in chemistry from Frostburg State University and spent his career as a software developer, working mostly on scientific software before retiring in 2012. He was married to Charlotte Nason for 10 years (from 1986- 1996), they made their home in South Carolina surrounded by their pet miniature horses and cats in addition to the neighborhood dogs and cats, which they treated like their own. He and Charlotte did not have any children together, although, they played Aunt and Uncle to the neighborhood kids. After their divorce,John first lived in California and then moved back to Maryland to be close to his family again,which is where he last resided.

He was smart, funny, and quirky. He read a lot, played computer games, worked puzzles, played guitar and was an instructor at a Yoga center in Maryland, which he enjoyed a lot until Covid 19 shut the center down in 2020. He also rode motorcycles and owned three different bikes during his lifetime. And he had a soft spot for animals of every kind: over his lifetime he kept fish, hamsters, amphibians, Bengal cats, and miniature horses.

John loved family gatherings. He was usually one of the first to arrive and help. Almost every time he would give a family member a ride home afterwards. His laugh and his odd sense of humor were a fixture at every one of them.

John is preceeded in death by his loving parents, father, Robert F. Gemmill, and his mother Frances C. Gemmill. He is survived by his close family including his sister, Elizabeth(Liz)Chambers, her husband Eric, his nephews Jake and Maxwell Chambers. He has extended family throughout the U.S. and Canada that will miss him immensely.