 John Whealon was born in Barberton, Ohio, to John Joseph and Mary Christina (née Zanders) Whealon.He received his early education at St. Augustine School in his Ohio from 1927 to 1934, and attended St. Charles College in Catonsville, Maryland, from 1934 to 1940.He then returned to Ohio and made his theological studies at St. Mary's Seminary in Cleveland from 1940 to 1945.