NAPLES — John C. “Jack” Glavine, 87, went to be with his Lord on Friday, Nov. 29, 2019, in the comfort of his home with his loving wife by his side.

Jack was born in Buchans, Newfoundland, on Oct. 2, 1932, to Edith King Glavine and Matthew John Glavine. Jack received his early education in Newfoundland, attending Catholic schools with the Sisters.

Following the untimely death of his father in Dec. of 1944, he and his two younger sisters were placed in orphanages where he received the next phase of his education. In 1948, he and his sisters came with their mother to the United Sates after their mother had been married to an American, Harold Bishop, of St. Albans, Maine.

Early in his life, Jack was employed by Savin Construction Company, headquartered in Hartford, Conn., and drove daily in the “worst of the worst” weather conditions back and forth from Greenville, to Ripogenus Dam where construction was taking place, but many times the trips were to Bangor instead. Polly and Jack met and fell in love as teenagers, and their love never wavered. They were married in Aug. of 1952.

While working at the Dam, he was drafted and had to leave to go into the Army in Feb. of 1953. In the service, he quickly rose to the top of anything and everything that he was given to do. He subsequently was sent to Germany where he had the opportunity for more schooling, which had not been offered to him on his arrival in Maine earlier in his life. He excelled in everything he attempted and came home in Feb. of 1955, ready to find a career in which to support his family, which consisted of a baby son, Jimmie, who had been born while he was gone and whom he did not see until Jimmie was 16 months old. In time, he took his family and left Maine to seek employment where he could use the skills he had earned and where he might be able to have an opportunity to further them.

His next employer was Stavid Engineering of Plainfield, N.J., and subsequently the family moved to Lancaster, Calif., where Jack worked on the Rocket Base of Edwards’ Air Force Base.  Stavid was bought by Lockheed Aircraft soon after he moved his family to Lancaster. After a time spent on the desert in Lancaster, job requirements brought him back to Plainfield, N.J., and there he was the Manager of the Environmental Laboratory for the company. Jack did a lot of traveling in his position with Lockheed and, by the time of his retirement in 1988, had been to a number of countries around the world. Never one to talk about any of his accomplishments, it has been a very frustrating situation for his wife, Polly, as he did such wonderful and exciting things, but as we would tell her, “it's just work, nothing glamorous,” and all the while she would be just dying to know about someplace exciting that he had been.

In N.J., the family lived in Hillsborough, in the very first of a new kind of development, which was called a Cluster Development, and which was written up in Good Housekeeping and other magazines of the time. Jack was active in Scouting, and also Little League while in Hillsborough, and the families were members of The United Methodist Church of Somerville, N.J.  Upon moving to Maine in 1988, they settled in Naples. Jack and their son Chris, who was a builder, took on the task of adding onto the home which they had bought — with sporadic help from Jack’s other son Jim, who lived in Bath. They built a huge addition, plus a two-car garage.  Soon afterward, it was decided that Jack would give Chris a hand for a while to help him get started in his new business. This eventually carried on and the arrangement lasted around five years. During this time, they had many good times together, many laughs, and at times were able to be joined by Chris's brother, Jim, when he could make arrangements with his own job. Jack and Polly were members of the United Methodist Church of Good Fellowship in Naples, Maine, where Jack has been an active member, serving on many committees and chairing some. His good work speaks for itself wherever he goes or whatever it is that he might attempt to do.

Jack was predeceased by his parents as well as his stepfather; his brother, Ron Glavine of Dallas, Ore.; his sister, Dorothy Doyon of Dexter, and his son, Christopher J. Glavine of Richmond, in 2010.

He is survived by his loving wife of 67 years, Polly, of Naples; his other son, Jimmie and his wife Sheila of Bar Harbor; grandson, Joshua Glavine and his wife Kristin, their son, Jack’s great-grandson, Kellan of Lunenberg, Mass., and great-granddaughter, Gemma; grandson, Patrick Glavine and his wife Lauren of Boulder, Colo.; daughter-in-law Gina Glavine of Brunswick; granddaughter, Serina Richardson of Brunswick; sister, Gloria Tarr of Blue Hill, and sister-in-law, Deanne of Dallas, Ore., as well as many nieces and nephews from Maine, N.H., Mass., Ore. and Washington state.

Family and friends are invited to call at the Hall Funeral Home, 165 Quaker Ridge Rd., Casco from 4 to 6 p.m., Friday, Dec. 6. Funeral services celebrating Jack’s life and honoring his military service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Naples United Methodist Church of Good Fellowship, 1000 Roosevelt Trail, Naples. Private family interment will take place at the Maine Veterans Cemetery, Mt. Vernon Rd., Augusta. Kind words may be shared with Jack’s family and friends at www.hallfuneralhome.net