- Date Of Birth: April 16, 1925
- Date Of Death: September 15, 2016
- State: Connecticut
John Henry West, 91, passed away Thursday, September 15, 2016 at CT Hospice of Branford. Born in Durham (1925) to the late John and Olga (Grochola) Waskiewicz, he lived most of his life there with his beloved wife of 68 years, Barbara (Blake) West. Together over 15 years and under his skilled guidance, they proceeded to completely build every part of their dream home on Madison Road. John served his country during WWII as a First Lieutenant and Army Air Force Navigator, and flew as part of a special airborne squadron, the Jolly Rogers. Sixty happy years of family vacation time was spent on the shores of Block Island- fishing, clamming, and inventing “systems” to bypass nasty thorns and access the “biggest” blackberries. Upon his retirement as a sheet metal worker from G.R.Cummings, John and Barbara relocated to Jamestown, RI, where their island home overlooked Narragansett Bay. Here he was able to satisfy his passion for surf-casting and continue his unsuccessful pursuit of the 31 lb Striped Bass record held by his wife. John possessed a deep-thinking and inquisitive mind and was not happy unless surrounded by electronic equipment in various stages of disassembly and a well-stocked yard full of “raw materials.” His interests knew no bounds – classical music, physics, mastery of the Polish language, history of the Civil War, Russian Literature (especially Tolstoy), and crossword puzzles, to name but a few. He and Barbara nurtured and passed along those joys of life-long learning to their three children.
John was preceded in death by his wife Barbara, and two sisters, Olga Mesick and Elizabeth Messick.
He is survived by one sister, Veronica Bogel, of East Haddam; his three children, Lorraine Martin and husband William of Durham, Elaine Woodard and husband Craig of Missouri and Colorado, and John West and wife Christine of Durham; three grandsons, Daniel Woodard of Missouri, Nathan Woodard and wife Laura of Rhode Island, and Geoffrey Martin and wife Kate of Middletown; and great-grandchildren Maya, Emma, and Ethan Martin, as well as many nephews and nieces.
