John Ammon, a well-known architect who worked in Baltimore, died Jan. 30 of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 75 and had suffered from the disease for 10 years, said his wife of 51 years, Judith Ammon.
Mr. Ammon was born Nov. 24, 1944, in Chicago to William and Josephine Ammon.
The family moved to New Jersey, where he graduated from Ramapo High School in 1962. He attended the University of Oklahoma, studying architecture, and was a member of Sigma Tau, an American honor society in the field of engineering, and Tau Beta Pi, the oldest engineering society and the second-oldest college honor society in the country.
Mr. Ammon graduated from college in 1967.
After he took graduate courses at the Johns Hopkins University, Mr. Ammon was employed by Fisher, Nes, Campbell & Associates architects, his wife said.
During his time at the firm, he met Donald Kann, and after five years on the job he and Mr. Kann joined Allen Green Associates and Engineers in the architectural division. In 1973, Mr. Ammon and Mr. Kann started their own firm, Kann and Ammon architects. Their first location was at the Investment Place in Towson.
They later moved to 500 W. Pratt St. in Baltimore, and the two worked on then-Orioles star Cal Ripken Jr.’s house on Tufton Avenue in Baltimore County.
The two were in business together from 1973 to 1990, when Mr. Ammon started John Ammon and Associates at 345 N. Charles St. In 2007 he retired. The architecture firm was bought by Mr. Ammon’s son, David Ammon, with Joseph Heisler and Hal Sachs.
Mr. Ammon joined the American Institute of Architects in 1970 and served as a board member for over 20 years. He was also on the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards and the Building Congress & Exchange. He served on the Reistertown Festival Committee for 10 years and was president of the committee in 1993.
Mr. Ammon was a member of Grace Fellowship Church since 1983, where he served as an usher and was on the board of directors for the church’s Helping Up Mission on East Baltimore Street, for which he oversaw the renovation 20 years ago.
During his 41 years of practicing architecture, Mr. Ammon worked on the restoration of the Lovely Lane Methodist Church and received several awards. He also worked on restoring the First and Franklin Presbyterian Church and George Washington’s estate at Mount Vernon.
Additionally, Mr. Ammon worked on the buildings of the Annapolis District Court and the Hagerstown District Court.
Mr. Ammon was a huge fan of Virginia Tech’s college football team and enjoyed times at the casino. He also loved to play golf, according to his wife, and would always come home with a prize when he was in a tournament.
Mr. Ammon loved sprint car racing and for several years sponsored his son, who built his own sprint car and raced it. Every Fourth of July Mr. Ammon would do fireworks for his grandchildren. His funeral was Feb. 3 at Grace Fellowship Church.
At his memorial per his request, his wife said, he requested fireworks and disco music. “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summers was played at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.
“At the core of who he was—he was a man of faith and and believed in being faithful to God and serving others,” his wife said.
In addition to his wife and son David of Baltimore, Mr. Ammon is survived by two daughters, Jennifer Nickoles of Reistertown and Katherine Grove of Forest, Virginia, and six grandchildren.