John R. DEMERS

MILLBURY— John R. Demers, Sr., 77, of 2 Jackson Lane, died on Monday, October 3, 2005, in St. Vincent Hospital at Worcester Medical Center, after a long illness. He leaves his wife of 50 years, Lorraine M. (Auger) Demers; 4 children: John R. Demers, Jr. and his wife, Laura A. (Flanagan) Demers, of Oxford, Linda M. Lavallee and her husband, William J. Lavallee, of Northbridge, Robert S. Demers and his wife, Veronica M. (Tessicini) Demers, of Milford, and Donna A. Swenson and her husband, Walter K. Swenson, Sr., of Millbury; 11 grandchildren; 3 sisters: Alice Bashaw of Spencer, Cecile Williamson of Mulberry, FL, and Helene Martel of Hobe Sound, FL; 2 brothers: Roger Demers in FL and Dennis Demers of Boulder, CO; and nephews and nieces. A brother, Steven Demers of Worcester, predeceased him. John was born in Montreal, P.Q., Canada, on September 22, 1928, a son of the late Richard and Annette (Gascon) Demers, was raised in Worcester, and lived in the Saundersville section of South Grafton before moving to Millbury in 1957. A U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War, he served in Korea with the 45th Quartermaster Company and was awarded the Korean Service Medal with a Bronze Service Star and the United Nations Service Medal. John worked for 22 years as an attendant at Worcester State Hospital before he retired in 1991. Prior to that, he was a Second Hand at The Felters Co., Millbury, and then a truck driver for Universal Scrap Metal Co., Worcester. After his retirement, he worked part-time at Goretti’s Supermarket, Millbury. He was a member of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Parish. An avid fisherman, John also enjoyed camping, woodworking, gardening, puttering around the house and being with his family, especially his grandchildren. His funeral will be Friday, October 7, from Turgeon Funeral Home, 56 Main St., with a Funeral Mass at 11 AM in Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church, 10 Waters St. Burial will follow in Worcester County Memorial Park, 217 Richard Ave., Paxton. Calling hours at the funeral home will be Thursday, October 6, from 6 to 9 PM. Donations in his memory may be made to the American Kidney Fund, 6110 Executive Blvd., Suite 1010, Rockville, MD 20852-9813.