BATH — John Arnold Moffitt, 88, resident of Hill House in Bath, died peacefully Monday, July 2, 2012 after a period of declining physical health.
John was born in Calais, Maine on February 3, 1924, son of Earl and Eva Craig Moffitt.
He graduated from Calais Academy in 1942 and attended a post graduate metals trades school in Dexter, Maine, and completed a machinist course at Wentworth Institute in Boston.
On October 19, 1942 he married the love of his life, Frances O’Hara, in Calais, Maine. He and Frances moved to Bath and made their home here for many years.
With World War II raging, John was drafted, entering the US Navy on June 11, 1942. He was assigned to the Destroyer Escort USS Richard S. Bull, which saw action in the Leyte Gulf Campaign in October 1944 in the Battle for the Philippines. For his service John received the World War II Victory Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Theater Medal (5 star), and the Philippine Liberation Medal (2 star). He was honorably discharged in December 1945 as a machinist, second class. John subsequently returned for reunions with his shipmates on two occasions, the last being in December 2004, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
John and Frances settled in Bath in 1945, and John entered the Hyde Windlass Machinist Apprenticeship Program. He successfully completed the program with 8000 hours of training, and was awarded his machinist certificate in 1947. He was employed there until 1969, when Hyde was purchased by the Bath Iron Works.
John and family then moved to Woodland, Maine, where John assumed the position of supervisor of machine maintenance at the Georgia Pacific Paper Mill in Woodland. After working at the mill for several years, John and Frances bought and operated the Two Acres Motel in Calais, and lived in their abutting home. John and Frances subsequently bought and operated the Wickachee Restaurant in Calais until 1981, when they retired. They moved to Fiddlers Reach in Phippsburg, Maine, so that they could be closer to family, especially their beloved grandchildren.
John had many hobbies, and was always making something, especially if it involved wood. Some of his favorites were making multitudes of wooden Christmas Tree ornaments and the many toys for his grandchildren.
In Phippsburg, John was appointed Codes Enforcement Officer and served in that capacity for several years until he was elected a Phippsburg Selectman/Assessor, a position he held until he resigned with the untimely death of his wife Frances in 1994.
In October 2001 John married his second wife, Shirley Mosher, and lived in Brunswick until this past November, when John’s declining health required the higher care afforded by the Hill House in Bath.
John is survived by his second wife Shirley, of Brunswick.
John also leaves behind his daughter, Linda Roberts and her husband Peter of Phippsburg, and his daughter Patricia Blethen and her husband Doug of La Place, Louisiana; grandchildren Mark Roberts, and wife Tammy, of Randolph and Bethany Richards, and husband Douglas, of Phippsburg and Brian Blethen, and his wife Leslie, of Boothbay and Jennifer Blethen of Brunswick and seven great grandchildren: Alexander, Andrew and Emma Roberts, Faith and Hope Blethen, Mason and Brooks Peaslee.
The family would like to express their deepest heartfelt appreciation to all the wonderful staff at the Hill House and to Dr. David S. Hill for the excellent, attentive and compassionate care they all provided John and his family during his stay there. The family could not have asked for more.
A private family gathering will be held at a later date. Burial will be at Morningside Cemetery in Phippsburg, where John will be laid to rest beside Frances.
In lieu of flowers, tax deductible memorial donations for the ongoing preservation of the Doubling Point Lighthouse may be made to: Friends of Doubling Point Light, c/o Joyce G. Spencer, 140 Doubling Point Road, Arrowsic, ME 04530.
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