John F. Foster III, formerly of Harrisburg
John F. Foster III, 66, died at home in West Linn, Oregon on Jan. 16, 2019 of brain cancer.
John was born March 25, 1952 in Harrisburg to parents John F. Foster Jr. and Lucy Ella Johnson Foster, both of Harrisburg.
John held a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cinema and Photography, Film Production, from Southern Illinois University. He resided in Harrisburg, Caen, France, Oklahoma City, Corpus Christi, Texas, Los Angeles and West Linn, Oregon.
John's early career was as a manager and promotional designer for Record Bar, a national chain of retail music stores. He then moved to Los Angeles to pursue his passion for filmmaking, working as production designer, production manager, effects supervisor and 2nd Unit director on more than 75 feature films and TV shows. Some of his favorites included "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," "Nightmare on Elm Street" 4 and 6, "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers," "Addams Family Reunion," "Freeway", "Lawnmower Man", "Red Rock West", and "Northern Exposure".
In 1999, John began the third stage of his career as art director for a Pasadena-based marketing and advertising agency whose clients included In-N-Out Burger, Roland Music Corporation US, Transamerica, Countrywide Insurance, Dignified Home Loans, The Gibbon Center, OpenPath Investments, Starwood Property Trust and ACORE Capital.
John was a passionate advocate for animals, as well as for species protection, environmental protection, and human and civil rights and freedom of the press. He loved books, music, film and other media, science and tech, and his friends include authors, musicians, artists, special effects colleagues, scientists, and animal, environmental, political and social activists.
John is survived by spouse Lana Davis Foster of West Linn, Oregon; his mother, Lucy Ella Foster of Harrisburg; nephew Thomas Berry of Washington, D.C.; spouse Deborah Berry; daughter Layne and son Mark; niece, Heather McKechney of Fairport, New York and her spouse Michael, sons Duncan and Colin and daughter Elizabeth; sister-in-law Laurie Whitnel of Metropolis, her spouse Brett and sons Phillip and Christopher and granddaughter Emma; and brother-in-law Steven Rice of Texas and his sons Seth and Matthew.
At John's request there will be no funeral, and in lieu of flowers, he asked that you consider making a contribution to the Humane Society or ASPCA or your local animal shelter.