John W. Velliquette, Sr., 70, of Londonderry, NH passed away after a sudden illness on Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at the Elliot Hospital in Manchester, NH surrounded by his loving family. He was born on September 18, 1942 in Cincinnati, OH, the son of the late Clifford and Marceta (McDonald) Velliquette. John was a Chief Warrant Officer 4 in the US Army for over 23 years, and served all over the world including Fort Bliss, TX, Korea, Colorado Springs, CO, Iran, and Egypt. After retiring from the Army in 1983, John became a resident of Londonderry, worked for Raytheon and spent 18 years as the HAWK Program Manager in the United Arab Emirates. Following his retirement from Raytheon after 25 years of service, he was elected as a trustee of the Londonderry Leach Library. He was actively involved at St. Jude’s Church in Londonderry as a lector, and was recently inducted in to the Knights of Columbus.
He is survived by his beloved wife of 51 years, Joyce (Kuszek) Velliquette of Londonderry, son, John W. Velliquette Jr. and his wife Sandra of Sumner, WA; daughter, Jackie Kotowski and her husband Stan of Methuen, MA; son, Jeff Velliquette of Londonderry; and daughter, Jennifer Swain of Tilton, NH. A proud grandfather, he leaves six grandchildren, Jarred, Joshua and Britny Velliquette, Ryan and Zak Kotowski and Tristan Swain.
Calling hours will be held on Sunday, February 10, 2013 from 2:00 – 5:00pm at the Peabody Funeral Homes and Crematorium, 290 Mammoth Road, Londonderry. A liturgy of Christian burial will be celebrated on Monday February 11th at 10:00am in St. Jude’s Church, 435 Mammoth Road, Londonderry. Burial will be on Monday at 2:00pm in the NH State Veteran’s Cemetery, DW Highway, Boscawen, NH. Memorial contributions may be made to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or St. Jude’s Church Building Fund, 435 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, NH 03053.