John C. “Jack” Meserve, loving father, partner and musician Jack Meserve, 77, of Pembroke, Mass. died April 21 at South Shore Hospital after a long illness.
Jack was born at South Shore Hospital on July 22nd, 1947, to Reta and Glenn Meserve of Hingham, Mass. He graduated from Hingham High in 1966 and attended Northeastern University. Jack enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1971 and served as a seaman’s quartermaster the USS Mount Vernon. He was honorably discharged in 1973.
The son of a mechanic, and grandson of a civil engineer, Jack learned tool and die maker skills on the job at Arch Gear Works in Quincy and worked as a machinist for many years at Sigma Instruments in Braintree and later at Mentor O & O in Norwell.
Music was Jack’s life-long passion. He formed his first rock’n’roll band as a teenager with high school friends, playing guitar and singing. For more than 50 years, Jack played and sang in rock, country and bluegrass bands including NTS, Sagewood Creek, Flintlock, Class Action Suits and others, entertaining audiences across New England.
Before his illness, Jack’s friends could usually find him Tuesday nights playing with the WSU (Whoever Shows Up) Bluegrass Band at Daddy’s Beach Club in Hull. He also played and sang at senior centers, nursing homes, farmers markets, and porch fests across the South Shore and Cape Cod.
As a widower and single parent, Jack was devoted to his children. He attended nearly every horse show, dance recital, Boy Scout event, school concert and sports meet, and he volunteered his musical skills accompanying 4-H holiday chorus shows.
Jack’s favorite place in the world was the family retreat on Hutchinson Pond in western Maine where, as a boy, he spent every summer with his younger sister, Loretta. Later in life, he owned a house on the pond and continued to vacation there, playing guitar and singing by the water with friends and family.
At home, he took pleasure in bird watching in his spacious backyard in Pembroke. He also loved the Boston Celtics and watched them every season. He enjoyed spending winters in Aruba and Florida, and took many long-distance road trips with his partner, Mary. In his later years, Jack delighted in spending time with his grandson, Teddy.
Jack was the loving and devoted partner of 30 years to Mary Takki. He was the father of Jeremy Meserve of Watertown, Casey Meserve and their partner, Paul Linden, of Greene, RI, Sarah Robertson and her partner, Nick Hartman, of Kingston, Jonathan Meserve of Pembroke, stepfather to Kevin Libby and his partner, Jennifer St. James, of Halifax, and grandfather to Theodore Robertson, Jayden and Janessa Libby, Austin and Hunter Hartman, and Julianna and Madison St. James. He was the beloved brother of Loretta Meserve of Acworth, NH, uncle and great uncle to many nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his wife Linda Meserve née Hager (1987) and brother, Charles Meserve (1981).
Family and friends are invited to Jack’s visiting hours on Saturday, May 10th from 11:00 AM- 1:30 PM with a service to follow at 1:30 PM at the Blanchard Funeral Chapel, Plymouth Street (Rte. 58 @ the rotary) Whitman.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jack’s name to the Manomet Conservation Sciences PO Box 1770 Manomet, MA 02345.