John Fetherolf

John Warren Fetherolf, 97, passed away peacefully on July 26th at Ten Broeck Center, Lake Katrine, New York. The son of George Luther and Dorothy Adams, he was born in Stamford, CT. He grew up in Worcester, MA, where he was known as a class clown; family and friends knew him for his intelligence, skills, tenacity, kindness, love, guidance and generosity.

John is preceded in death by his loving wife of 70 years, Dorothy "Dot" Fetherolf. He is survived by their children John (Susanna), William, Elizabeth, Mary, Andrew (Desiree) and Charles Fetherolf (Claudia Goldstein) and grandchildren Andrew, Katherine Leta, Hailey, Julia, Nathaniel and Joseph Fetherolf, Alexandra Heslin (Sean), John (McKenzie Osborne) and Olivia Scalise, great grandchildren, Leandra and Elliott Lewis, Benjamin and George Heslin and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his loving daughter Laura Fetherolf (Dean Heal) in 2015.

John was a long-time resident of Worcester and Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Eastchester and Central Valley, New York. At just 17 years of age, John joined the Army and was stationed in Trieste, Italy, earning a WWII Victory Medal and Occupation Medal/Italy. Following his service, he returned to complete High School. He continued his education and was a graduate of Clark University, class of 1953, with a degree in Geography. While at Clark, he was actively involved in a variety of clubs and organizations including the fraternity Kappa Phi, as well as playing the leading role in the university production of "The Importance of Being Earnest". John was naturally congenial and amassed enduring friendships all along his journeys. Following his college years, John was a cartographer by trade starting his career at Sanborn Map Company, later co-founded STOCKMAP, creating visual representation of stock market data pre-computer age, and concluded his career as a construction engineer. He was a skilled craftsman capable of fixing anything, and was regularly sought out by family and friends to troubleshoot repairs, whether it be carpentry, plumbing, electrical, or mechanical. Weekends consisted of home maintenance tasks where he could easily be teaching a child the importance of a task well done, as well as, mountain hikes, beach trips, baking bread, building furniture, guitar strumming, reading the NYT cover to cover while the stereo soothed him or engaging in his beloved meticulous genealogical research.

He was an was an exhaustive volunteer for NARA (National Archives of Records Administration). John loved a good party and was known to cut it up on the dance floor. With his taste in music spanning Broadway musicals, classical, swing, folk, rock and pop there was always an opportunity for song and dance. He raised seven children with much patience and love and was affectionately known by plenty of young children as "The Big Hand" and the chauffeur driving the wildly cacophonous VW bus. John was a proud grandfather; always encouraging, as well as offering "constructive criticisms". He reveled in all the talents and accomplishments of his grandchildren and great grandchildren, and cherished being regaled with all the details. He was an unrivaled patriarch, and beloved by many.

The family would like to express their gratitude to Ten Broeck Commons, Lake Katrine, NY and The Culinarians' Home, New Paltz, NY for the wonderful care they provided in his final days.

A celebration of life will be held privately.

Please consider a donation in John's memory to Clark University at 950 Main St, Worcester, MA 01610, The Culinarians' Home, 71 Old Tschirky Rd, New Paltz, NY 12561, NARA or The Democratic National Committee.