Basketball & Baseball
John Byrnes grew up in the Boulevard Gardens in Woodside and attended nearby Corpus Christi Elementary School. From Corpus Christi, John made the short journey to Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School. John was a star in and out of the classroom. His grades saw him graduate in the Top Ten of his class. He was also chosen as the Vice President of the school’s Student Council. John represented the Crusaders for four years, including two years at the varsity level, on both the basketball court and the baseball diamond.
After graduating from McClancy, John attended Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts where he played both basketball and baseball. After graduating from Clark in 1972, John married his college sweetheart, Marla. John then took a position with Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1980, John joined RC Knox, an insurance brokerage firm in Hartford. After obtaining a law degree from Western New England School of Law, John continued his career with RC Knox. In 1998, John became President of RC Knox which has 125 employees in their offices in Hartford and Bridgeport.
John and Marla have two adult children: Ryan is 25 years old, he married his Yale sweetheart and currently lives and works in Manhattan, their youngest son Patrick, is a 21 year old junior at Duke University and is a sportswriter for that school’s newspaper. John and Marla have been married for thirty years and currently reside in West Hartford, CT.