John C. "Jack" Madden

Waterford - John "Jack" C. Madden, 88, of Waterford, formerly of New London, died Saturday, April 27, 2013, at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London.

He was born in New York, N.Y. on Oct. 17, 1924, the son of the late Christopher and Kathleen (Quain) Madden. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1943-1946 in the European campaign, attaining the rank of sergeant. He received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Manhattan College, class of 1950. His college education was supported by the GI Bill, which Jack felt was a great benefit to returning servicemen. Employed by General Dynamics since 1950, he enjoyed a 39 year career at Electric Boat in Groton, where he was an administrator of the Trident System Management at the time of his retirement in 1989.

Mr. Madden married Eileen (O'Dwyer) Madden on Sept. 28, 1957, at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Brooklyn, N.Y. She survives him. He was a communicant of St. Joseph Church in New London, and a past president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Together, Eileen and Jack were strong supporters of Irish dancing and culture in the area.

Jack also enjoyed coaching basketball locally. He coached at St. Mary and St. Joseph schools in New London, and then the St. Joseph CYO High School teams during the 70s and 80s. Jack led several teams to the New England CYO Championships, culminating in a championship win in 1982.

Besides his wife, Jack is survived by a son, Sean and wife, Stacey Madden, and their sons, Jack and Patrick of New London; and four daughters and sons-in-law, Maureen and Joseph Peters of East Lyme and their sons, Brendan, Kevin and Liam, Kathleen and James Depew of Denver, Pa. and their children, Claire, Andrew and Elizabeth, Teresa and Lou Harrington of Gales Ferry and their son, Sean, Eileen and Dean Armstrong of Wilton and their daughters, Hannah and Kathryn. Jack is also survived by his sister, Kathleen and her husband, John Crilly, of Whitehouse Station, N.J. and their children, Mary, John and Joe. He also leaves five cherished sisters-in-law, Bee Maher, Angela Doheny and Sr. Teresa O'Dwyer of Ireland and Maureen McCarthy and Sr. Kathleen O'Dwyer of the United States; as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Jack loved Irish culture, Irish history and the Irish people. He and Eileen spent many happy times in Ireland traveling extensively, enjoying a story and a pint with his many Irish relatives. Jack was a strong supporter of Catholic education.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Joseph School, 25 Squire St., New London.

The funeral will assemble at 12:15 p.m. Saturday, at the Thomas L. Neilan & Sons Funeral Home, 12 Ocean Ave., New London, and proceed to a Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated in St. Joseph Church at 1 p.m. Interment will follow in St. Mary Cemetery with military honors. Calling hours are from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday.

Condolence messages may be left on Jack's memorial page at www.neilanfuneralhome.com