Andover - John Ward Kimball died at his home on January 19, 2026, from natural causes. He was 95 years old.

Following graduation from Harvard College in 1953, he served as a Lieutenant in the U. S. Air Force Reserve. After his discharge, he returned to Andover with his wife and first son to teach chemistry and biology at Phillips Academy and to coach the distance runners.

After a sabbatical leave at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, he began graduate studies at Harvard receiving his Ph.D. in Biology in 1972. He joined the Biology Department of Tufts University that same year and became a tenured Associate Professor in 1977. In 1982 he returned to Harvard to teach immunology. In 1987 he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Kimball was the author of an introductory text in biology that went through six editions and was translated into several languages. He also wrote books on immunology, cell biology, and environmental biology.

In 1956, Kimball became the volunteer manager of the Charles W. Ward Reservation, a now 729-acre tract of conservation land in Andover and North Andover that was founded by his adoptive grandmother, Mrs. Charles W. Ward. For the rest of his life, he devoted a large fraction of his time to enlarging and caring for the reservation.

After retiring from classroom teaching, Kimball built a web site devoted to biology which he revised and updated regularly until shortly before his death.

He was predeceased by his wife of 72 years, Margaret Wilkerson Kimball, and by his third son, Peter Wilkerson Kimball.

He is survived by his son, Christopher and his wife Elizabeth of Thousand Oaks, CA and their children Glenn and Rachel Perez and her husband, Christian and their daughter Lilah, and by his son Nicholas and his wife, Lynn of Magnolia, MA and their children, Gregory, Jeffrey, and Eric and his wife Kelsey and their son, Charles.

He was adopted on his fifth birthday by C. Carleton and Elizabeth Kimball. He is also survived by his lifelong adoptive brother, Richard Kimball of Sheffield, MA, his wife Athena, and their two children and by his lifelong adoptive sister, Margaret Montgomery of Newport Beach, CA, and her two children and four grandchildren.

In accordance with John's wishes, there will be no memorial services, but contributions in his memory may be made to support the Charles Ward Reservation, The Trustees of Reservations, 200 High St., 4th floor, Boston MA 02110.