John MacWhirter â IBM Branch Manager / Navy vet
John MacWhirter, 94, passed away Thursday April 9, 2015 at his home in Cranford, NJ. Born in Scotland, John later settled in NJ. His training as a cryptography specialist in the Navy prepared him for a position at IBM. John retired from IBM after 39 years in 1981, as the branch manager in Cranford. He was an avid reader, a master of quotations and ready to challenge anyone at Jeopardy. Scrabble, poetry, electronics repair, poker, fishing, golf, travel, volunteer work and visits to his beloved Mac's Shack in Ocean Beach gave him great satisfaction during his 33 years of retirement. He relished sending an opposing point of view to newspaper editors. He belonged to the Samson Salts Navy Assn, was a 65-year member of the Azure-Masada Masonic Lodge, offered prayers at the Senior Club meetings and belonged to the First Presbyterian Church of Cranford. An excellent public speaker, John was a man of high integrity who lived his life with honesty, sincerity and was always ready with a clever quip.
John is survived by his devoted wife of 61 years, the former Marilyn (Lynn) Brill, a son Glen MacWhirter, of Ashburn, VA, a daughter Janice and son-in-law Bob Haddad, of Clark, granddaughters Meg MacWhirter and Elizabeth Shanley, and grandsons Tom and Rob Haddad.
Visitation and life celebration will be Sunday from 5 till 9 pm at Gray Memorial Funeral Home, Cranford. Go to grayfuneralhomes.com for on line condolences.
A Funeral Service will be held on Monday 11 am at the funeral home with burial to follow at Graceland Memorial Park in Kenilworth, NJ.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation or Alzheimer's Association.