Obituary of John J. Demeritt

John Jerome Demeritt, 82, of North Syracuse, New York, passed away on October 10, 2018 in Liverpool,
New York where he had resided at Elderwood of Liverpool for a short time.

John was born in Woodsville, NH and graduated from Wells River High School in 1954. John would
proudly proclaim that he was the Valedictorian of his class before revealing that his graduating class had 3
members. He briefly attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA before joining the US Navy. He
served on the aircraft carriers USS Bennington (aka Big Benn) and the USS Intrepid in the South Pacific
where he worked on the flight deck directing aircraft landings.

John grew up in Vermont and loved fishing the many lakes and streams there, particularly Halls Lake in
Newbury, Vermont where his family spent the summers at their camp. He enjoyed all kinds of sports,
playing basketball and baseball in his youth. John loved ice hockey, and he enjoyed coaching his son
John in the sport but not getting up at 4:00 am to cart him to the games! One of his proudest moments
in life was teaching a future college player how to skate backwards. Later in life, he became an avid
golfer.

John remarried 35 years ago to his beloved wife Beverly Demeritt (nee Salatti, Lumb) and moved to
Syracuse. They were active members of the Syracuse Lions Club and were proud supporters of the
Syracuse Orange, although a point contention was his love for the Boston Red Sox and Beverly’s love of
the NY Yankees. John lost his beloved wife Beverly in 2010.

John worked for Metropolitan Life and Agway Insurance Companies for most of his professional career
and particularly loved that he was able to reconnect with his Vermont farm clients. After retiring from
insurance, he worked at Sears Middleton Jones Funeral Home in Syracuse.

John is survived by:

His children with his first wife, Elizabeth Quinn of Manchester, NH: Kathleen Demeritt Ratcliffe of New
York City, John Jerome Demeritt, Jr. of Bedford, NH, Jennifer Demeritt Ell of Bedford NH,
Beloved grandsons: Patrick Liam Ell, Christopher Ell, Sean Demeritt, and Kyle Demeritt, all of whom
reside in Bedford, NH.

Loving sister, Ann Demeritt Allen of Cherry Hill, NJ and her children Deborah Allen Colasurdo of
Interlaken NJ, Diane Allen Stowell and her husband Peter of Middletown MD and David Allen and his
wife Diana of Dallas TX. Plus his seven great nieces and nephews: Cierra, Christian, Christopher,
Michael, Victoria, Abraham and Alexandria.

Step children: Susan Lumb Stepien and her husband John, John Lumb and Richard Lumb and his wife
Yvonne, as well as his grandchildren Richard Lumb, his wife Michelle and their daughter Lily, Harry Lumb
and Hayley Lumb all of whom reside in Syracuse, NY.

John’s family would like to thank caring staff at Elderwood of Liverpool for all of the compassion and
care they showed to John during his time there.

Services: 10 am Saturday, October 20th at Sacred Heart Church Catholic Church, 8229 Brewerton Rd, Cicero, NY where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Mausoleum, 800 Grant Boulevard, Syracuse, NY. A calling hour will be from 9am to 9:45am Saturday at the church prior to the service. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to any of the following organizations in memory of John J. Demeritt, Sr.: Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org, American Lung Association; www.lung.org PAWS of CNY; www.pawsofcny.org.