John F. Sigmund, Sr.—9/14/2021

John F. Sigmund, Sr., Sept. 14, 2021, age 84, of Wyndmoor and Blue Bell. 

Beloved husband of Ruth (nee Behringer). Loving father of John F. Jr. and the late Johanna Sigmund.  Dear brother of Peter R., Mary Ann Wenniger and Kathryn Pearce (Arthur). Also survived by many nieces and nephews. 

John was preceded in death by his brother Paul and his sister Louise Regan.

A Visitation will be held at Our Mother of Consolation Church on Sat. Sept. 25th from 9:30-11:00 a.m., followed by his Funeral Mass at 11 o’clock. Mask required in church. Interment will be private. 

Donations in John’s memory may be given to St. Joseph Preparatory School, 1733 W. Girard Ave., Phila. PA 19130.

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In the face of tragedy, he kept his faith 

A love of people and persevering through tragedy defined the life of John Sigmund, whose daughter Johanna Sigmund was killed at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Sigmund, 84, died September 14, just three days after the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Johanna, 25, worked for Fred Alger Management on the 93rd floor of the North Tower, her first job after graduating from Fairfield University in Connecticut. 

Rather than dwelling in this painful past, Sigmund invested in the future by helping to organize two scholarship funds in his daughter’s name at Springside School in Chestnut Hill and St. Malachy’s School in North Philadelphia. “My father responded to the horror of losing his daughter with the forgiveness and grace that few possess,” said John Sigmund Jr. “He believed an education was one of the greatest gifts you could give and Johanna’s memory has lived on in the lives of dozens of young scholars.” 

In a 2004 company profile, Sigmund reflected on his career and discussed his response to the life-altering event: “We have been supported by our bedrock of faith and are now members of a worldwide club we did not want to join: survivor families of victims of tragedy.” He went on to say, “We have learned that we can only move forward… we still believe that good ultimately outweighs the evil that is present in this life.”

Sigmund grew up on N. Bent Road in Wyncote and attended Immaculate Conception School in Jenkintown and then Saint Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, graduating in 1954. The Prep changed his life, and he changed The Prep, remaining dedicated to the school for the rest of his life as an active member of the Alumni Association. Sigmund continued his Jesuit education at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, graduating in 1958. In 1977, he advanced his career as one of the first graduates at the College of Financial Planning. 

His childhood home in Wyncote looked over the Thomas Williams Park ballfields, a place of endless play where his interest in sports started, as a little leaguer and a touch football playmate of future Yankee star Reggie Jackson. He paid for most of his Holy Cross education by driving a Good Humor ice cream truck in Northeast Philadelphia. 

After a decade working in Washington, DC and Paterson, NJ, Sigmund returned to Philadelphia in 1968 to take a job with a newly formed company called Lincoln Investment Planning. He would remain at Lincoln for the next 50 years as one of the leading financial planners and earned their highest recognition when he was inducted into the company’s Hall of Fame. His clients were doctors, nurses, and teachers and he formed lasting friendships with many of them. 

In 1970, he married Ruth Behringer of Short Hills, NJ and they started a life in Chestnut Hill, celebrating the birth of their first child Johanna in 1976 and second child John in 1978. The Sigmund family moved to Wyndmoor and later Blue Bell, but John Sigmund remained connected to the community, especially as a member of the Chestnut Hill Rotary Club. 

Sigmund and his family found spiritual community at Our Mother Consolation Church in Chestnut Hill, St. Malachy’s Church in North Philadelphia, and St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Ambler. He was a regular attendee at a 6 AM prayer group at St. Joseph’s University and found peace at the Jesuit Retreat Center in Wernersville, PA. 

He was a lifelong athlete, playing racket sports at Germantown Cricket Club and later Philadelphia Cricket Club. “My sister and I gave him the nickname ‘tips galore’,” said John Jr., “he would overwhelm you with tips, usually in the middle of your backswing.”

Sigmund accomplished many things and forged many lasting friendships, but his greatest legacy is his faith in God and his enduring love of family, especially Ruth, his wife of 51 years. In the two decades after 9/11, he would not let a horrific act of violence diminish his love of life and his belief in a better world. After hearing the news of Mr. Sigmund’s passing, Johanna’s college roommate put it so well, “After 20 years and 3 days, he was ready to see his beautiful daughter again.”