John Merriam Kingsbury

John Merriam Kingsbury was born in Boston, MA, on July 4,1928, the oldest son of Willis and Constance Kingsbury. Constance died when John was just six years old. John, or Jack, as he was known throughout his life grew up working on Woodside Farm in Framingham, MA, during the Great Depression and World War II, an experience that instilled in him the value of hard work, an interest in plants that would later form the basis for his career as a botanist, and a resourcefulness that he would call on throughout his life. Jack also spent part of each summer at his grandfather’s home on Cape Cod, developing a love for the ocean that never left him.