John Conn, 29, Russian linguist, guitar player

John Conn joined the Army a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He’d been attending the University of Georgia but felt compelled to cut school short in order to enlist.

Because he tested exceptionally well, Mr. Conn was sent immediately to study Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif. After the yearlong training, he was assigned to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, alongside linguists from other branches of service.

Enlarge this image

Family photo

John Miller Conn Jr. was in his first year of law school at the University of Georgia and had a wife and two children.

On occasion, Conn would speak in Russian to his mother, Ann Bishop of Atlanta.

“He’d say he was talking in Russian, but it could have been gobbledygook for all I know,” she said. “He was real smart. Very talented, and did very well.”

John Miller Conn Jr., 29, of Monroe, died Thursday from an accidental gunshot wound at his home. A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Monday at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church in Atlanta. H.M. Patterson & Son-Spring Hill is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Conn served as a Russian linguist until October 2006. Shortly thereafter, he returned to the University of Georgia and completed his bachelor’s degree in Russian. He was in his first year of law school at the University of Georgia at the time of his death.

Mr. Conn had numerous talents. He was an artist who’d painted renderings of himself and his mother. He had an ear for music, too. He taught himself to play the piano, and mastered the guitar and drums.

“Drums was his first real thing,” his mother said, “but he played guitar in a band. He wrote a lot of the songs they played. I think it was rock.”

Other survivors include his wife, Alexis Conn of Monroe; two children, Alyssa Marie Gross and John Dylan Conn, both of Monroe; his father, Dr. John Conn of Pueblo, Colo.; two sisters, June Yencer of Atlanta and Sarah Anderson, of Decatur; grandparents, Dr. Linton H. and June Bishop Jr. of Atlanta; and Wilma Conn of Pueblo.