W. John Cameron, a member of the Falls Church City Council and Planning Commission in the early 1980s, died this past May 17, according to an obituary published in a Greensboro, North Carolina, newspaper. A resident of Eden, N.C., he was in the Veterans Hospital of Durham, N.C. at the time of his passing. Active for many years at the Falls Church Presbyterian Church, after serving on the Falls Church Planning Commission, Cameron was appointed to the City Council to fill an unexpired term in 1983, and then was elected to a full four year term in 1984. He chose not to seek re-election in 1988.
Born in Louisburg, N.C. on Sept. 13, 1941, he is survived by his mother, Beulah Bradley Cameron of Raleigh, N.C., his wife, Joan Mabes Cameron, siblings Ann Cameron Pearce (Irvin) of Raleigh, N.C., and David Bradley Cameron (Martha) of Union Mills, N.C. He is survived by his children, William John Cameron Jr. of Stafford, Va., James Chadwick Cameron of Orlando, Fl., David Lansing Cameron (Marte) of Kristiansand, Norway, George Dewey Mabes IV of Eden, N.C. and Molly Elizabeth Mabes of Charlotte, N.C., and grandchildren Josh, Jacob, Eva, and Liv.
A native of Raleigh, N.C., and graduate of Needham Broughton High School, his formal education included three degrees from the North Carolina State University (NCSU). He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and multiple honor societies. A captain in the U.S. Army, he was awarded a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal for his service in Vietnam.
Cameron founded a transportation management consulting firm, TransTech Management, Inc., following his tenure as a partner at Ernst and Young in Washington, D.C. He served on the NCSU Alumni board of directors, the NCSU Foundation board of directors, and the statewide board of directors of the North Carolina Community Foundation, and was on the board of trustees at Louisburg College, serving as chairman and was a recipient of the Presidential Medal.
A colleague of Cameron on the Falls Church City Council in the 1980s, Gary Knight wrote to the News-Press upon learning of his death, “John was a brilliant and level-headed man who brought his keen insight, common sense and occasional levity to tense situations. He donated his transportation expertise to the City. Along with myself, he was a spearhead in the late 1980s effort to design a more efficient Broad Street, which was approved by the voters in the first public referendum to endorse a large Council spending proposal. Many prominent citizens of Falls Church will grieve over the loss of this exemplary human being.”
