John L. Marcellus Jr.

1922 - 2015

ONEIDA >> John L. Marcellus Jr., 92, passed away at home on Jan. 31, 2015, following a lengthy illness.
Born on Dec. 16, 1922 to John L. Marcellus and Dorothy Wattenbee Marcellus, John grew up in Clinton, N.Y. and attended Clinton Schools, graduating from Clinton High School in 1942. While at Clinton High School John excelled in football and basketball, which led to a sports scholarship at Hartwick College. After the fall 1942 semester John left Hartwick to enlist, with his younger brother Jim, in the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division Ski Troops, training at Camp Hale, Colo. in 1943. Before he could be deployed, John contracted rheumatic fever which led to a medical discharge from the service.
Following his recovery, John entered Syracuse University, graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in business and economics in June 1946. In August 1947 he married Joan Burns, also a Clinton native. Joan loved to tell the story that, when she first met John as a fourth grader, she made up her mind that they would be married when they grew up. John joined Oneida Ltd. Silversmiths as a sales representative in 1946, covering metropolitan New York, Baltimore and Washington, DC. John and Joan moved frequently during the first few years of their marriage, living first in Somerville, N.J., then Oceanside, Long Island and Cincinnati, Ohio. During those years their daughter, Alexandra Lawrence was born in 1948 followed by a son, John L. Marcellus III in 1952. In 1956 the family moved to Chagrin Falls, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland, where the family remained for the next 10 years. John's promotion to national sales manager at Oneida Ltd. Silversmiths brought the family back to upstate New York in 1966. John and Joan built a house on Kenwood Avenue in Oneida, N.Y. where the couple lived for the next 42 years as John was promoted at Oneida to vice president, general manager, president and finally president and CEO, retiring in October 1986 after 40 years. As president/CEO John actively supported the promotion of women, both from within and through recruitment in sales, product development, sales promotion and on the Board of Directors. In spite of considerable resistance, John did not back down. His actions were not driven by the women's rights movement but by a strongly developed sense of fair play and a belief that individuals with talent and initiative should be rewarded and promoted regardless of their sex.
Following his retirement in 1986, John served on the Board of Directors for: Chase Lincoln First Bank, Kuhlman Corporation, where he enjoyed getting to know fellow board member Norman Schwarzkof, and Southern Financial Bank.
John and Joan shared a deep affection for the Adirondack Mountains, first spending time with John's parents at their camp at White Lake and later, renting camps on Blue Mountain Lake until 1975, when they were finally able to build their own camp on Blue Mountain Lake, spending vacations and weekends there until John's retirement in 1986, when they began staying the entire summer and fall through New Year's. John and Joan shared a second passion in their love of jazz, building an extensive collection of recordings and attending live performances whenever they could through the years.
He is survived by daughter, Alexandra Lawrence Marcellus of Barneveld and her finance Michael Rekowski; son, John L. (Jack) Marcellus III and his partner/son-in-law Michael Kwiatkowski; granddaughter, Amy Boyce Hirschel and her husband Phil of Tampa, Fla.; great grandchildren, Beatrice and Dylan Hirschel; sister-in-law, Ursula Burns Keeley of Tuscon, Ariz.; nephews, Rob and Brendan Keeley of San Diego, Calif. and Tuscon, Ariz.; nephews Frank X. and Robert O' Brien and their wives Sue and Joan of Utica and Baldwinsville; nieces, Abby Marcellus McKee and husband Frank of Rochester, N.Y. and Julie Marcellus Van Oostenburg and her husband Mark of Holland, Mich.; nephew, Scott Marcellus of Hawaii; cousin, Pete Jones and his wife Joan of Clinton, N.Y.; friends, Wendy and John Starling of Blue Mountain Lake N.Y., Bruce Ellis of Old Forge N.Y., Mona and Dan Militello of Sherrill N.Y., Tommy Norris and his wife Mindy of Raquette Lake, N.Y., Denise and Hank Houck of Clinton N.Y., Kathy Gates of Blue Mountain Lake N.Y., Nancy Hawkins of Westmoreland N.Y. and Camille Kahler of Rome N.Y.; cousins, Claire Burns, David and Lisa Burns, Bernie and Carol Burns, of Clinton and Nicholas K. Burns and wife of Utica.
He was predeceased by his wife, Joan Burns Marcellus, brother and sister-in-law, James Macfarlane and Marsha Brockman Marcellus; parents John L. and Dorothy Wattenbee Marcellus; sister Dorothy Isabel Marcellus; sister-in-law Kyle Burns O'Brien, Uncle and Aunt William and Betty Marcellus Schmidt, Aunt and Uncle Fred and Marion Wattenbee Chaney, aunts, Maria Wattenbee Marsh, Sabra Wattenbee Jones, Josephine Wattenbee Kirley Isabel Marcellus Blythe, Uncles William Blythe, Stuart Wattenbee, cousins Judith Burns Gilroy, O. Gregory (Red), Jack Burns, Nicholas K. Burns and dear friend Jean Ellis.
The family would like to express special thanks for Robert Burdick, M.D. and Dolly Webb-Sanchez for making possible for John to remain at home during the last few months of his illness. Recently John made the statement that he was incredibly lucky, had done everything he had wanted to do in life, and had no regrets.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015 at Owens-Pavlot & Rogers Funeral Service, Inc., 35 College St., Clinton. All are invited to call on Wednesday, from 4-7 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will be held at St. Bernard's Cemetery, Waterville in the Spring.
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