Harry John; Founded Charity That Gave Away Millions

Harry G. John, 73, an heir to the Miller Brewing Co. fortune who founded a worldwide Roman Catholic charity. In 1946, John founded the DeRance Foundation in suburban Wauwatosa, Wis., which has given millions of dollars to missionaries, Catholic charities and various religious ventures, including an attempt to locate Noah’s Ark. However, he was removed as president and treasurer in 1986 after associates questioned his investments in gold and his purchases of studio equipment for a proposed religious television network. John was the grandson of brewery founder Frederick Miller. In Milwaukee on Saturday of the complications of a stroke.