John Kenner Marlow (1939 – 2024)

John Kenner Marlow, 84, of Front Royal, Virginia, passed away peacefully on February 4, 2024, at Winchester Medical Center surrounded by family.

John Kenner Marlow

John was born to Guy and Esther Marlow on March 28, 1939, in Washington, DC.

He spent his first years in Silver Spring, MD living in a house his father built. At a very young age, John and his family moved to Front Royal, where the government contracted his father to build houses during the war.  The family believed the move would be temporary, but ultimately, the family grew deep roots in the Shenandoah Valley.

John graduated from Warren County High School, where he was a celebrated athlete. He played on Warren County’s only undefeated and untied football team, held the high-scoring record for the Warren County basketball team for decades, and was a district champion in the discus.

He attended the University of Virginia on a football scholarship. At UVA, he was the co-captain of the football team, lettered three times in track, and played freshman basketball.  John graduated from the UVA McIntyre School of Commerce. He was the President of the V-Club, was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and was a member of the Lawn Society at the University of Virginia.

John returned home to Front Royal in 1964 after spending two years stationed in Germany as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Upon his return, he built several apartment buildings and bought Marlow Motor Company from his father. He later purchased Tri-State Nissan in Winchester and Marlow Ford in Luray and continued building homes and developing real estate there.

John believed that he lived in the most beautiful area in the country and that he had a duty to serve his community. In 1968, he was one of the first Republicans elected to office in Warren County since the Reconstruction. He served 14 years in the Warren County Board of Supervisors and was a founding director of the Lord Fairfax Planning District Commission.

John was a visionary Mayor of Front Royal from 1982 to 1990, during which time Front Royal’s Main Street was redeveloped, including the design and construction of the Gazebo in Downtown and the renovation of the former Train Station into a Visitors’ Center. He was the initial visionary and a founder of the Warren County Educational Endowment, which, through the years, has provided nearly a million dollars in grants for the benefit of Warren County students. In all that he did in the community, he was guided by the simple question: “Is it good for Front Royal?”.

He was a founding director of Peoples Bank of Front Royal, a director at Jefferson Bank, and a director of First Bank. He served as a director of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley and was a chair of the Board of Trustees at Shenandoah University. He is a lifetime member of the First Baptist Church of Front Royal.

When asked, John will confidently say that the best decision he ever made was to marry the love of his life, Joyce Allison Marlow. They shared 58 legendary years together, and those who knew them understood that theirs was an epic love story.

John is survived by his wife, Joyce; siblings, Joanna Driggs (husband John), Mary Elizabeth Marlow, and James Marlow; daughters, Jessica Marlow, Emily Marlow Beck (husband Andrew), Debbie Dunn, and Jeania Aylor (husband Rob); grandchildren, Olin, Marshall, and Margaret Beck, Amy Yates Watts (husband James) and Evan Bender; and four great-granddaughters.  He was a proud “Uncle John” to several beloved nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews.

The family will receive friends at Maddox Funeral Home in Front Royal on Thursday, February 15 from 6:00-8:00 pm. A memorial service celebrating John’s life will be held Friday, February 16 at 11:00 am at Boggs Chapel at Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal with the Rev. Dr. Christy McMillin-Goodwin officiating. A reception will follow at the First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall. The inurnment will be private.

Honorary pallbearers are John’s fraternity brothers from the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the following funds: The Warren County Educational Endowment, P.O. Box 1314, Front Royal, VA  22630, or Rotary Club of Front Royal, John Marlow and Heidi Moore Student-Athlete Scholarship, c/o Community Foundation of the Northern Shenandoah Valley, P.O. Box 2391, Winchester, VA 22604.