MILROY - John Theodore "J.T." Rosenquist, 66, engineer, beloved husband and father, iconoclast and former VOA Power Plant supervisor, died on Sept. 16, 2009, in Milroy.

J.T. was born on June 12, 1943, in San Rafael, Calif., the oldest child of Newton and Blanche Rosenquist.

After enlisting in the U.S. Air Force and serving in Vietnam, Cambodia and Japan, he attended Parks College in St. Louis, Minn. and received his bachelor's in aeronautical engineering and master's in engineering management.

He worked for some years as a testing engineer for Lockheed Martin and Boeing, and was eventually offered a position with the Voice of America. As a member of the U.S. Information Service's Foreign Service, he supervised as many as 300 locally employed staff. He also managed million dollar budgets for fuel and equipment in places as varied as Liberia, Morocco and Greece.

His work on the generator plants in the Phillipines after the Pinatubo eruption enabled their continued function and was recognized with a Superior Honor award. Additionally, he was nominated and accepted a study year at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, where he concentrated on the "nuke" stuff, and occasionally despaired of ever bringing the Voice into the 20th century.

During his Washington assignments, he fielded questions and solved generating problems from many various governmental and non-governmental organizations, including one memorable long-distance call from a barge in Alaska.

In Liberia, his charitable work with the local village and upward nobility initiative and training program resulted in his being "gowned" as a paramount chief for the local tribe - something he always insisted was both honorary and overstated.

He always said he felt rather silly in a full-length dress.

J.T. retired from the Voice of America in 1993 and proceeded to follow his wife as her dependant spouse - or as he put it, "a kept man." During these years, he variously taught a senior level physics class in Montevideo, Uruguay.

These included the formulas for ensuring both sufficient pressure and adequate cooling for a working whiskey still. He worked the COP III in The Hague, The Netherlands and acted as a Surveillance Detection supervisor both in The Hague and Almanty, Kazakhstan.

In his generous free time, he also managed to be a great father to two sons, ski the Alps and the Himalayas, pilot multi-engined flights between Morroco and Spain and hunt wolves on the Chinese border.

Finally, in 2004 he bought his "fixer upper" and he and his wife retired to central Pennsylvania, where J.T. joined the Senatorial Circle of the Republican Party. He opened a forge for "one-off" pieces, refined his "secret steak sauce," and generally enjoyed his almost 200 year old house from the ground up.

J.T. is survived by his wife, Chris; their two sons, Benjamin and Stephan; and his brothers, David and Paul, their wives and children; several great-nieces and great-nephews and his mother, Blanche.

And last, but not least, his daily companion, L.D., the dachshund.

His friends and family will miss him, his sense of humor and his trenchant political comments.

His funeral service will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009, at Heller-Hoenstine Woodlawn Funeral Home, 200 N. Main St., Lewistown, with the Rev. Charles L. Hershberger officiating. Full military honors will be accorded by VFW Post 7011.

Family will receive friends from 5 p.m. Sunday until the time of service at the funeral home.