Cover photo for John G. Joly's Obituary
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1928 John 2021

John G. Joly

January 24, 1928 — September 27, 2021

OGDENSBURG- A Mass of Christian Burial for John G. Joly, 93, of Ogdensburg will be celebrated on Friday, October 1, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. at Notre Dame Church with Rev. F. James Shurtleff as celebrant. Burial will follow the Mass in St. Mary's Cemetery. A visitation will be held on Thursday, September 30th from 3-6 p.m. at the LaRue & Pitcher Funeral Home. The family respectfully requests that all visitors please wear a mask and follow all COVID-19 procedures. For the protection of the immunocompromised members of the family, the family also requests that unvaccinated individuals kindly leave a condolence or remembrance on the LaRue & Pitcher Funeral Home website in lieu of attending.

Arrangements are under the direction of LaRue & Pitcher Funeral Home.

John George Joly joined our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on the 27th of September 2021 at the young age of 93.

John was born in Ogdensburg, N.Y. on January 24, 1928 to Captain Phillip Napoleon and Mame Taillon Joly (Jellie). The youngest of four sons, John learned a strong work ethic at an early age taking over his brother Art’s paper route at age 7 and selling fireworks with his brother, Ralph. His toughest job was delivering casualty notification telegrams to the families of Soldiers killed in action. He graduated from St. Mary’s Academy at age 16, and attended Catholic University in Washington, D.C, graduating in 1948. While in college, he worked numerous jobs but one of his favorites was serving meals to the priests at the rectory especially on Sundays when the priests were usually busy and the servers were allowed to eat all of the extra bacon. John also attended Syracuse University. In 1950, he was drafted into the United States Army and served as a cryptographer during the Korean War. While stationed in San Luis Obispo, CA, he worked as a caddy at Pebble Beach Golf Course where he had the opportunity to caddy for the Dalai Lama.

After receiving his discharge in 1952, John returned to Ogdensburg where he went to work at St. Lawrence State Hospital later transferring to the State School in Buffalo. In 1956, John joined the Syracuse office of the Social Security Administration as a claims representative, and later transferred to the Oswego office. After promotion to field supervisor, he began work at the Watertown SSA office. He then worked at the Utica Social Security office as a claims supervisor. On October 1, 1962, Mr. Joly was transferred to the Ogdensburg office as assistant manager, a position he held until his promotion in 1975 to district manager. He retired from this position in 1984.

After retirement, John worked many jobs which he said kept him young. He was employed by the Association of Neighborhood Rehabilitation (ANR), was a Remington Museum tour guide, and worked for Frary Funeral Home. John’s last job was Foundation Director of St. Joseph’s Nursing Home, which culminated with the construction of the new home on Linden Street. John’s efforts were proudly pointed out in later years when he would refer to the nursing home as “the house that John built.” When he finally retired at age 77, he had worked for 70 years.

Upon retirement, he continued to work Knights of Columbus Bingo Night and volunteered at many of their events and dinners, receiving Knight of the Year honors. John volunteered his time to assist seniors with their income tax returns through AARP. John was a past president of Rotary and recipient of the Paul Harris Award. He served on the Ogdensburg Catholic Central School, Saint Marguerite D’Youville Academy, and New York State School for the Deaf school boards. He also was a member of the Notre Dame Parish council. John was a man who believed in hard work, had strong moral values and was fiscally conservative. He was known to often quote the Liberty Mutual commercial, “Only pay for what you need.”


Reconnecting after a couple of years apart, John was finally able to capture the heart of a beautiful, young nurse and on April 24, 1962 John and Evelyn (Brown) were married by John’s older brother Monsignor Paul Joly. John and Evelyn had three children and lived a beautiful life until her untimely death in 1975. John survived losing his wife, mother, and best friend, Adrian Boyer, within a few short years. With humor and love, he did a wonderful job raising his children. Recognizing the special father he was, John was a favorite parent to many of his children’s friends. John was blessed to find love again, a second love. On May 10, 1986, again officiated by his brother Paul, John married Nancy Place Wainwright, a widow with three children of her own.

Uniting two families into one, they shared and supported each other through all the joys, frustrations and sorrows that accompanied their 33 year marriage. This family bond was most recently evidenced by the many family members at John’s bedside at his passing. During their golden years, John and Nancy enjoyed traveling, entertaining at camp, loving their grandchildren, great grandchildren and caring for each other. They stayed together in their cherished home as long as their health allowed. Shortly following one after another to St. Joseph’s home, they spent their days together, enjoying their daily visits until Nancy’s passing on October 5, 2019. Heartbroken, John spent his remaining days enjoying time with family and sharing his wit with the wonderful staff. This past summer was particularly special for John, as he was able to spend time outside in the sunshine with relatives from near and far while admiring the beautiful sunflowers that reminded him of Nancy, and how much she loved them.


John is survived by daughters Mary Wills (Michael), Nicole Joly, both of Ogdensburg, Peggy Carpenter (Larry), Kalamazoo MI, and sons John Joseph Joly (Leah), Essex Junction, VT and Michael Wainwright (Dotty), Hermon, N.Y. He is also survived by his grandson Jeffrey Toole and granddaughters Lindsay Toole (Dominic Gonzalez-Padron), Mariel Robb (Gregory), Grace Wills, Kenzie Bucher, Katie Manuel (Trevor), Emily Hitson (Kyle), Molly Carpenter (Dustin Phelan), Eva Joly, Isabella Joly, Megan Wainwright (Alex Schwan), Ashleigh Weegar (Alex Pappas), Abrigail Weegar (Adam Ripa), great grandchildren, and dozens of nieces and nephews.


In addition to his parents and wives, John was predeceased by his sisters Phyllis and Bernadette Joly, brothers Monsignor Paul Joly, Arthur Jellie (Dorothy), and Ralph Joly (Grace), and daughter Katherine Wainwright Weegar.


The Joly family would like to thank those at St. Joseph’s who cared for dad with compassion and humor. He certainly appreciated the conversations and friendships during the long, lonely lockdown times when we couldn’t be with him.

Donations in John's memory may be made to the Notre Dame Heritage Fund 125 Ford Ave. Ogdensburg, NY 13669.

Online condolences may be made at www.LaRuePitcher.com.


To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of John G. Joly, please visit our flower store.

Service Schedule

Past Services

Visitation

Thursday, September 30, 2021

3:00 - 6:00 pm (Eastern time)

LaRue & Pitcher Funeral Home

324 New York Ave, Ogdensburg, NY 13669

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Mass of Christian Burial

Friday, October 1, 2021

1:30 - 2:30 pm (Eastern time)

Notre Dame Catholic Church (OGDENSBURG, Ogdensburg, Notre Dame Cemetery)

NY

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Burial

Friday, October 1, 2021

2:30 - 3:00 pm (Eastern time)

St. Mary's Cemetery

NY-812, Ogdensburg, NY

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