John Francis Dillon was born on March 6, 1866, in Bellevue, Ohio.

On April 15, 1894, he enlisted in the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army and worked as a telegraph operator and general electrician.

In 1908, he collaborated with General George Owen Squier in developing a wired wireless system.

He ultimately attained the rank of lieutenant colonel; serving for a time in the Army Reserve.

[1][2] In April 1919, Dillon again worked as radio inspector for the Department of Commerce, first in San Francisco and then in Chicago.

[1] On March 1, 1927, Dillon was appointed by President Calvin Coolidge to the Federal Radio Commission for a two-year term as one of its first five members.

In that role, he was headquartered in San Francisco, and traveled to Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York and Cleveland.

Several months later, after treatment for the infection, he died on October 9, 1927, at Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco.