John Edward McLaughlin Jr. was called home by the Lord on December 16, 2021. He was the first son born to the late John (Jack) Edward McLaughlin Sr and the late Kathryn (Kay) Elizabeth Jaklon in Cleveland, OH. The family moved to Maryland and spent the war years in Silver Spring. John attended Elementary School at Blessed Sacrament in Chevy Chase, MD, which is located near the home his father built for the family. John welcomed a brother Bruce and two sisters, Mary, and Joanie.
John was active in his church growing up serving as an altar server. He attended St. John’s College (then of Washington, DC) now in Virginia, for High School. John served as an officer in the School his senior year. John marched with the corps of cadets at the parade celebrating the 2ND inauguration of President Eisenhower. In 2017, John and Jan attended the 60th year reunion for St. John’s College.
After High School, John attended the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN. John studied and graduated with a degree in electrical engineering and participated in the student run newspaper. He used elective courses to study business. Between college years, he worked for the postal service and the US Navy Weapons Division. Upon graduation from Notre Dame, he was hired by General Electric Company for their Management training development program. This saw John traveling to several GE locations around the country to learn the business of management in a variety of technical settings.
John also served his country by entering the Army National Guard. He received additional training as a medic at Fort Sam Houston in TX. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962, John was activated along with other reservists and sent to the east coast for possible emergency deployment. Crisis was averted and the national guard was asked to stand down. John completed his 6 years with the National Guard, the last two years of service in Boston.
John relocated to New England for a position with General Electric Aircraft Instruments in West Lynn, MA. John lived in Nahant, MA spending many years living by the ocean at “Forty Steps”. GE moved their Aircraft Instruments group to Wilmington, MA and later sold the business to AMETEK. John worked for GE for 25 years and worked for the successor AMETEK for an additional 26 years. John worked in a variety of roles mostly dealing with customer support of Military and Commercial Aircraft customers. His experience with management and his understanding of engineering made him a person who could talk to the technical side and translate that to the real-world side.
Over the years John traveled across the US and around the world to meet with customers of GE/AMETEK. He attended the Paris Air Show. In 1979, he brought dishes home from Hong Kong to Jan who did not travel with him to the far east. John was invited by clients at Lockheed to see an SR-71 Blackbird Aircraft take off during flight trials. The then classified aircraft went into service in 1975 and retired from service in 1999.
At both GE and AMETEK, John was known for his sense of humor and kindness. He served as a mentor for many throughout his career. John retired from AMETEK after 51 years with the same group (GE + AMETEK).
John married his wife Jan (Sproul) in December of 1977 and had two children Daniel (DJ) and Katie. In 1986, the family moved from Beverly, MA to Londonderry, NH. John and Jan often traveled with the children as they were growing up. It was not unusual to see the kids toting old versions of laptops on planes during trips to various places around the country. On every plane they traveled, John would point out various gauges in the cockpit or the type of engine that contained parts manufactured by GE or AMETEK.
John was involved with his church, St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Londonderry, NH. He was a greeter, lector, and served on various committees including the Parish Council. Until things changed due to COVID, John scheduled and trained the lectors who would do the readings at each Mass. His strong voice could be heard at 8 AM Mass at least once a month and was known to be “the voice of God” reading the creation story from Genesis during many Easter Vigil Masses. John was an active member of the Knights of Columbus Council 10488 where he served for 25 years as treasurer, and he received his 3rd degree. John developed the “eye-chart” which gave Council Members a real view of where their dollars came from and went. The “eye-chart” continues to be used by current members of the council.
John cared for Jan when her health declined and forced her to retire. Once John retired, Jan and John enjoyed traveling together. Cruising was the perfect vacation for John! It allowed him to meet people and have lots of bacon at the buffet! Cruise locations included: Bermuda, The Eastern Caribbean, the Western Caribbean, and Alaska. 2019 was the travel year.
Jan and John went to Rome and Paris with friends Bob and Joyce. In Rome, they visited the Colosseum and the Vatican where they had a private tour of the Vatican Museum, Saint Peter’s Cathedral and the Sistine Chapel. In Paris, they attended Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral just a few months before the great fire. He sat in the front row opposite the altar. John saw the sunset from the Eiffel Tower.
In March, two weeks were spent in Hawaii with Katie (John liked the Big Island best) and visited Pearl Harbor. In May, for Jan’s birthday, there was a trip to Seattle followed by a week cruising to Alaska with Katie. After the cruise they met Amos whom she is engaged to marry in October 2022.
September 2019 saw John in his kilt at the Highland Games where Clan MacLachlan was the Honored Clan. John celebrated his 80th birthday by cruising to Eastern Caribbean. Jan and John explored a number of islands including Barbados which they had first explored on their honeymoon in the first week of 1978.
John wanted to cruise after that but COVID stopped travel in 2020 and then John was diagnosed with 4 different cancers (Head and Neck Cancer, Lung Cancer, Liver Cancer and Bladder Cancer). So far away locations were put aside and round-trip transfers to Solinsky Cancer Center in Manchester NH and the Elliot Regional Cancer Center in Londonderry became a daily occurrence. There were often periodic trips to Dartmouth Hitchcock in Lebanon, NH to see specialists and receive state of the art treatment for his Liver Cancer. Home Care was provided by Jan and a great team from Home, Health and Hospice of Merrimack. John received great care from the doctors, nurses and staff of all these facilities. John had a number of trips via Londonderry Ambulance to Elliot Hospital’s ER. The family wishes to thank each one who helped John have as many days as he did. Jan kept family and friends in the loop through CARINGBRIDGE. (If you know someone experiencing a health emergency – suggest they check out CARINGBRIDGE.org for a free web-based way to keep people aware of what is going on)
John was a fighter. He kept a positive attitude during his various appointments and treatments. Although John lost a great deal of weight initially, he was putting the weight back on. He was joking and laughing and smiling right up until his last days! A large group of friends helped support John and Jan during this battle. Some did transportation, some brought meals, others just a kind word or activity to relieve some stress. The family is thankful to all those who helped in any way.
John leaves his soulmate and wife Jan of 44 years, a son DJ McLaughlin (wife Krista) of NH and a daughter Katie McLaughlin (fiancé Amos Eshel) of WA. He is survived by his sister Mary McLaughlin Finin of Maryland. Sister-in-laws Carolyn McLaughlin of NY, Honey Hastings (and Charles Eggert) of NH, Deb Hanna (husband Rich) of FL. A Brother-in-law Jim Sproul (wife Marilyn) of TX. Several nieces and nephews and their families in TX, VA, RI, MD including: Bruce McLaughlin, Kris Laber, Kat McLaughlin, Brian McLaughlin, Marjorie Sproul, Jake Amorosi, James Sproul V. He was predeceased by sisters Janet McLaughlin, Joan McLaughlin Amorosi (her husband Frank Amorosi), and brother Bruce McLaughlin. He was “Daideo” to his two grandchildren Malcolm Wepsic McLaughlin and Willa Faith McLaughlin and felt they were “God’s Gift” to him.
A Celebration of Life and Mass will occur on Saturday April 2, 2022 at St. Mark the Evangelist Church, 1 South Road, Londonderry NH 03053 at 11 AM. Lunch and remembrance will take place in the Church Hall afterwards. All friends and family are invited to attend both parts. We would love to laugh, hug, and hear your stories of John.
John loved to smile, hug, and enjoyed talking with folks. He often would chat with people who were in helping or service positions. He wanted his friends and family to carry on this tradition. Make someone smile today or say thank you to someone who is providing a service to you or someone else. Love is the most important thing!
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to one of these fine organizations:
Rockingham Nutrition Meals On Wheels https://rockinghammealsonwheels.org/
106 North Road, Brentwood, NH, 03833
Community Caregivers of Greater Derry,
https://comcaregivers.org/
6 West Broadway, Unit 6, Derry NH 03038
JVC Northwest
https://jvcnorthwest.org/
PO Box 22125, Portland, OR 97269
CaringBridge
https://www.caringbridge.org
CaringBridge Donation Center, PO Box 6032, Albert Lea, MN 56007-6632