John Paul Marion

John Paul Marion
“Johnny”
1946-2009

John Paul Marion, “Johnny”, the beloved and loving son of Marjorie (Foote) Marion and the late Lawrence Joseph Marion, passed away at the age of 62, on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at the UMASS Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, MA after a short series of illnesses. We take comfort believing that he has joined his Dad in Heaven. John was born in Putnam, CT and resided there most of his life. John is also survived by his brother Lawrence and sister-in-law Joyce, his brother Robert, his brother Francis, his brother Joseph and sister-in-law Patricia, his sister Margaret and brother-in-law Michael, and his brother William. He also leaves his nephew Robert Marion, and countless relatives and friends who had touched his life in special ways. He was predeceased by his sister-in-law Jacqueline Marion.

John worked side by side with his family at Marycrest Farm many days of his life. For 20 years, he carefully weighed and packed nuts and dried fruit that were sold in his parent’s Health Food Store called Sunrise Trading Company. He helped care for many domesticated animals including his favorite Mastiff dog, Magic.

John was a special friend to many people. He will be remembered for his gentle nature, his warm heart, his selfless way of living, his humility, his love of God and family and his great memory, just to name a few qualities. In his youth, he played baseball and loved catching pop flies. He played basketball and could sink 300 foul shots in a row. Johnny liked to go fishing. He enjoyed playing the card game “Old Maid”. He had a lifelong hobby of making friends and offering them a handshake, and remembering their names forever. He was an avid reader and knew lots of facts about many topics. He was able to memorize all the statistics on thousands of Baseball Cards and he enjoyed being quizzed on them. Johnny was very proud of his accomplishments around his home and yard whether it was feeding the birds, raking leaves, tossing bales of hay onto a wagon, gardening, mowing the lawn, shoveling snow and many other tasks. He enjoyed sitting on the front porch watching the traffic go by on Marycrest Drive, Route 44, and Route 21. He kept the farm and the roadsides nice and neat for more than 50 years! He asked friends he met to make up a prayer list, preferably a lengthy one. He looked forward to attending Mass in the Chapel of the Convent across the street, and got great comfort from saying the Rosary and Novena Prayers.

Johnny had a heart of ‘gold’ and was a shining ‘star’. He truly had ‘malice toward none’. May the light we received from Johnny shine through us! He will be greatly missed and remembered with love by his family and friends. Johnny touched many hearts, and thank you to each friend who touched his! May the memories of Johnny have a lasting effect on his friends forever.

Relatives and friends are invited to visit with Johnny’s Family from 9:30 am to 11:30 am, Saturday, February 21, 2009 in the Gilman Funeral Home, 104 Church St., Putnam, CT followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 12:00 noon in St. Mary Church of the Visitation, 218 Providence St., Putnam. Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery.