On Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, the world found out it had lost a hero. John Travis Krallman of Blacksburg was found deceased in his condo in Silver Springs, Md.
John to the world, and Travis to his family, was born on a snowy Saturday, Jan. 9, 1982, in Pittsburgh. He was predeceased by his grandparents, Alvah and Thelma Hylton of Blacksburg and John W. and Edith Krallman of Irwin, Penn.
He leaves behind his parents, John D. and Dianne Krallman of Blacksburg, brother Kevin Krallman and his wife, Anna Kramer, of Monroe, Ore.; aunts and uncles Ken and Denise Krallman of Hamilton, Ohio, Dean Krallman of Herminie, Penn., Sid and Sherry Krallman of Norvelt, Penn., and Dan and Elaine Hylton of Ozark, Ala..; cousins and second cousins Samantha Krallman Johnson and her husband, Will Johnson, and their children, Arielle, Gabrielle and Preston of Greensburg, Penn., Sara Krallman Goldman and her husband, Marc Goldman, and their children Ana and Grace of Harrisburg, Penn., Shana Krallman and her son, Liam Gustafson, of Benicia, Calif., Kelli Krallman and her son, James Michael Howard, of West Chester, Ohio, Keith Krallman and wife, Sara Bailey, of Portland, Ore., Paul Hylton and Jessica Hylton and their children, Jade, Lilly, and Kaylee of Ozark, Ala., David Hylton of Ozark, Ala. and Andrew Hylton and wife, Kaitlyn Hylton, of Richmond, Va.
Travis was a gifted and focused student. He graduated from Blacksburg High School in 2000, where he loved forensics. He was a National Merit scholar and chose to attend Virginia Tech, double majoring in chemical engineering and chemistry. Travis found out his first semester in the co-op program that he really didn’t want to be a chemical engineer so he refocused on his passion, the environment. He was active in student climate action organizations at Virginia Tech. After graduation, he worked as an environmental engineer for three years with UBS, learning about clean air and the Clean Air Act. Even before graduating from Virginia Tech, John Travis planned on going on to law school to become an environmental lawyer. After UBS, he attended Lewis and Clark School of Law in Portland, Ore., where he was champion his second year and runner-up his third year in the National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition.
He interned for one year at the EPA Boston office. When that ended, he returned to Portland as Counsel for Neighbors for Clean Air, helping to lead the fight for clean air in Oregon. He loved his job and the people he worked with and would have stayed, but his dream job called. He was hired as an attorney in the Air and Radiation Law Office, Office of General Counsel, EPA in Washington, where he worked until his death.
John was not only a gifted attorney, combining his technical background with an encyclopedic knowledge of the Clean Air act, but was a great mentor, team player and friend to all who knew him. He was a beloved “uncle” to his second cousins, a friend and mentor to his brother and a model son. He will be sorely missed.
Family visitation will be today, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, at McCoy Funeral Home from 5- to 7 p.m. A memorial service will be held at St. Michael Lutheran Church in Blacksburg at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 4. For those who cannot attend in person, live-stream will be available from the church’s website, https://www.st-michael-lutheran-church.org/.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial gifts be made to Neighbors for Clean Air in John Travis’s name at https://neighborsforcleanair.org/donate/ or you can plant a tree in his honor. As one friend put it to us, Mother Earth has lost a great advocate.
