Vernon Obituary: John Kettle, 81

John (Jack) Lawrence Kettle, 81, of Vernon, beloved husband of Joyce (Allen) Kettle, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, April 4, 2018.

Born March 22, 1937 to the late Alton and Claire (Casey) Kettle, Jack graduated Hope High School in Providence in 1957. He was President of his class for two semesters, played hockey for Hope and was a member of the 1956 Rhode Island State Hockey Champs. He graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 1960.

He married Joyce Allen and moved to CT and was employed by United Technologies Research Center as a Design Engineer until his retirement in 1999. Jack loved designing and was awarded many US patents for his design achievements during his career.

He loved hockey and coached various teams in Hartford and Vernon rounding up many of the neighborhood children who also came to love the sport. Jack was part of the group that started Vernon Youth Hockey Association and coached the PeeWees for many years. Also, he was one of several coaches that started the Rockville High School Hockey Team.

Jack himself was a participant in all sports, playing hockey, softball, tennis, and golf during his lifetime. He was very active in his church, teaching Religious Ed for many years with his wife, Joyce. He was president of the Parish Council and at one point, Trustee of the Church.

As a “people person”, Jack loved social gatherings. He believed that in order to have friends, you had to be one; therefore, he had many friends who he loved and who loved him in return. He loved his grandchildren and enjoyed telling them stories about “the good old days” as a youngster in Providence.

He leaves his beloved wife of 58 years and children John, Craig, Scotty, and Susan, seven grandchildren: Amanda, Jesse and wife Lyndsay, Jake, Nicholas, Marina, Kayla and Hayden, as well as two great grandchildren: Carter and Hadley.

Calling hours will be on Friday, April 13th at Ladd Turkington & Carmon, 551 Talcottville Rd, Vernon between 4 and 7pm. Funeral mass at St. Luke Church, 141 Maple St. Ellington, on Saturday April 14th at 11am.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Fresh Air Fund, 633 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10017 or the National Kidney Foundation, 1463 Highland Ave, Cheshire, CT 06410.