John McNamara Obituary

John was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1934. He was the child of Stephen J. McNamara and Adele McNamara (nee Walsh). He grew up on 81st Street in Ozone Park, Queens where he had many friends and had fond memories of playing games like stickball in the street. He attended Brooklyn Tech for high school and Hofstra University for college.

After college, John entered a physics PhD program at Johns Hopkins University. He left the program after a number of years when his father became ill, and returned to Long Island to work as an engineer. He worked for Sperry and Armor and then got a job at Grumman Corporation, where he remained for his career.

John met his wife, Carolyn, through friends on Long Island. They were married in New Hyde Park in 1968. After their first child was born, they moved out to Fort Salonga where they raised their four children: Stephen, Cathryn, and twins Peter and James. Although he sometimes showed frustration with the commotion from four kids, a mother-in-law, and numerous pets in the house, he liked that he was part of this "full catastrophe," as he often referred to it. He enjoyed thinking that he was part of a crazy family like the one in You Can't Take It With You.

John valued his work and his family and enjoyed numerous pastimes. For more than 40 years, he worked on various aerospace projects at Grumman, including the Lunar Excursion Module. He was a steady, helpful, and reliable presence at home. In his free time and after his retirement, he enjoyed music, the water, working with his hands, and history. In his youth, John was a fan of the New York Giants baseball team, and he was heartbroken when they moved to San Francisco in 1958. Later, he shared his interest in baseball with his family by taking them to many Yankees games.

John was predeceased by his parents Stephen and Adele McNamara and his son, Peter McNamara. He is survived by his wife Carolyn Quinn McNamara, his son Stephen McNamara and partner Diana Ning, his daughter Cathryn Brennan and husband Tom Brennan, his son James McNamara and wife Moyra McNamara, and his daughter-in law Meredith McNamara as well as grandchildren Johnny, Tommy, and Danny Brennan, Bridget, Cormac, and Aengus McNamara, and Lillian, Caroline, Emily, and Eleanor McNamara.