John Lewis Laughlin

John leaves behind his loving wife of 27 years, Pearl Hibbard along with two stepsons Timothy and Sean Nagel and seven grandchildren. John is also survived by his younger brother Robert (Bob) Laughlin. ______________________________________________________________________________ In memory of John Lewis Laughlin, my dear husband of 27 years. I was a member of a small group known as Kindred Spirits (later changed to Common Boundary) whose joy it was to find ways to integrate spirituality and psychotherapy. It was 1982 and we met in a library in Bethesda, MD. We were a close-knit group sharing personal struggles over these issues. We decided to consult some well-known theologian-psychotherapists and put together a conference. The committee members were asked to house some attendees for this two-day conference. I was to house three individuals. The first day of the conference I announced that all those assigned to my home were to meet me at a specified place at the Virginia Theological Seminary. A couple from North Carolina and a gentleman from Pennsylvania (John Laughlin) met me and we loaded into one car and came back to my home. Being very efficient at that time, I had everyone up, fed and down to the seminary by 8:30 AM. I had a workshop to present and needed to stick to my tight schedule. That evening after the successful conference was over, the committee and partners had dinner together to debrief. Since John was my house guest (the NC couple decided to start their journey home), I invited him to the dinner with us. We came home and talked until 3 AM. From then on, we had nightly phone conversations. He came down for a festival Thanksgiving to meet my family. We married March 5, 1983 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Riverdale, MD (where I was music director) by Rev. Dale Thorngate, a Seventh Day Baptist minister. John had many stories to his life. Together we taught the adult Bible study group on Sunday mornings at All Saints Lutheran Church, Bowie, MD (where I became music director). We ran a Bible study group in our home on Friday nights. John was a psychotherapist and a member of several professional organizations; one of those was American Substance Abuse Professionals. He was ASAP's Substance Abuse Professional of the year in 2009. He enjoyed his interactions with the entire staff and often had an opportunity to use his wit and warmth. He was highly respected for his work and personality. John's big hobby was genealogy. He worked extensively on his family as well as mine. He organized a big Lewis (maternal side) family reunion in Canada where he gathered additional information that we put in our laptop that we carried with us. John's brother, Bob, took us to Ireland where we visited gravesites and churches and met with a priest who knew of the family and showed us some gravestones. John supported many animal rights groups. He favorite animal was the wolf. He has a stuffed wolf animal and often said that he would like to raise a baby wolf! He wrote many articles. One was called Dawn Walk and made the cover of The Sabbath Recorder which is a monthly publication of the Seventh Day Baptists. It spoke of our 3-mile morning walks - most of which were in silence. When we did speak it was philosophical reflecting on the miracle of life and each new day as we watched the sunrise. There are many stories about his parachuting Army days, his growing up years and his inquisitive mind in the nature of animate and inanimate things. John was a caring and tender man who walked the second mile in support of me during the last two years of my infirmities. May God welcome him and bless him as his presence on earth has blessed us. - B. Pearl Hibbard