Captain John Anthony Pieno, USN (Ret.)

Captain John Anthony Pieno, USN (Ret.), 83, Tallahassee, FL, passed away August 26, 2023. John A. Pieno is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, where he attended West Jefferson High School. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in management from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1962. Shortly after graduating, he joined the US Navy as an Aviation Officer candidate at NAS Pensacola, Florida. John earned his Naval Flight Officer wings in Corpus Christi, Texas, in April 1963. After 28 years of service, he attained the rank of Captain USN. With that, he flew over 6,000 jet hours, accumulated 1,310 aircraft carrier arrested landings and flew over 200 combat missions. During his distinguished military career, he held numerous praiseworthy positions, recognitions, and assignments in the military. After he retired from the Navy, Captain Pieno helped establish The Sterling Council in 1992. During his service, John earned three Silver Stars from combat missions in Vietnam, Four Legions of Merit, Eight Distinguished Flying Crosses, Three Meritorious Service Medals, Eighteen Air Medals, Three Navy Commendation Medals, Navy Achievement Medal, Two Navy Unit Commendations, Five Meritorious Unit Commendations, Six Navy “E” Ribbons, and Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. Along with the awards he earned, he also held titles of different commanding positions, flew different aircraft, and went on many deployments, including Bombardier/Navigator in the A3D Sky Warrior aircraft, Operations, Safety and Administrative Officer, Staff of Medium Attack Wing for Instructor duty as the Weapons and Tactical Officer with A6 VA-42 squadron, Executive Officer of the Attack Squadron 35 on the USS Nimitz, Commanding Officer VA35, of the A6 Attack Jet Squadron, Special Assistant for Executive Personnel to the Secretary of the Navy, Commander of the A6 replacement training squadron VA-42, Captain of the USS Savannah, Executive Officer of the USS John F. Kennedy, and Captain of the USS Forrestal. After retirement from the U.S. Navy, he worked as a legislative director for the Grumman Corporation in Washington D.C. until he was asked to come to Tallahassee to serve as a member of Governor Lawton Chiles’ cabinet. Through various encounters, John and Lawton Chiles struck up a friendship. When he was elected Governor and took office in 1991, Governor Chiles brought Captain John Pieno on board to run his Department of Administration. John proposed to Governor Chiles that we adopt the national Baldridge Criteria for the state of Florida, and this resulted in the formation of The Florida Sterling Council, which held its first meeting on June 25, 1992. John leaves a great legacy and, under his leadership, helped create a vision for the States of Florida and Georgia, which the Sterling Council oversees, to support the vision of the Sterling Council to be states of excellence and beyond. John will be missed by all who had the great pleasure of knowing him. John enjoyed spending time with his family, especially during holidays. In recent years, he appreciated his time at their second house in Perdido Key, FL, where he could also enjoy his naval roots at the Naval Air Station Pensacola. Shortly before his passing, he flew to Myrtle Beach, SC, to spend his last birthday with many of his extended family members and his best friend, Randy Ledbetter. Captain John Pieno left behind his loving wife Dione, his oldest son Johnny and his wife Tammy (Wilmington, NC), his second oldest son Mike and his wife Denise (Charlottesville, VA), his daughter Nicole and her husband John (Hatteras, NC), his youngest son Greg (Virginia Beach, VA), his stepdaughters Summer (Charlotte, NC) and Cinnamon (Palm Coast, FL), 18 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. A celebration, burial, and military recognition (including a flyover) will honor John’s patriotic life and will be held at Arlington National Cemetery in the near future, as is customary given his distinguished military service. John always had a heart for The Sterling Council, a nonprofit organization improving Florida’s state of excellence. In Lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions in memory of John be made to this special “GoFundMe" https://gofund.me/49aff499 campaign or you can send a check to the Sterling Foundation, P.O. Box 13907 Tallahassee, FL 32317. Kelly Barber of Bevis Funeral Home (850-385-2193 or www.bevisfh.com) is assisting the Pieno family with their arrangements.

Tributes

Captain John Anthony Pieno, USN (Ret.)

July 13, 1940 - August 26, 2023