John Leslie Measley, loving husband, father and part-time cowboy, passed away quietly July 27 after two days in bed at the age of 95.
He was born March 11, 1925 in Hammonton on a blueberry farm, the youngest of four children. At the age of 17, and with his mother’s help, he joined the U.S. Navy to fight in World War II. He served on a destroyer and occasionally merchant marine vessels. One of his favorite memories was his trip by freight train from California, where he was discharged, back to the East Coast.
After returning from the war, John married Arlene Virginia Drake, his wife of 69 years. It was at this time that he got a job with NJ Weights & Measures. This particular year, and this year only, new hires were trained with state trooper hires. He passed the training and subsequently never received a motor vehicle violation. Go figure.
A year and a half later he enrolled at West Chester College in Pennsylvania where he was a member of the wrestling team. While at college, his summers were spent working construction in Princeton. Had he not pursued a teaching career, construction would have been his passion.
Following graduation from West Chester, John worked briefly as a physical education teacher in Hightstown before moving to Fair Haven to teach and complete his master’s degree from Rutgers University. His extended family had lived in Rumson since 1910 and he had spent many summers with his aunts and uncles at the shore. When he was hired to teach health and physical education in Fair Haven, he taught first through eighth grades in both Knollwood and Willow Street schools. By the time he retired, it required multiple teachers to do the same task. Appreciated most by his students was his equal treatment of each one. He was blessed by having multiple generations of students from the same families.
Among other aspects of his life, his Christian faith sustained him. He attended First Baptist Church in Red Bank for most of his adult life. He served for many years on the Juvenile Board in Fair Haven, was a social member of the Fair Haven Fire Department and was a member and president of the Lions Club.
He is survived by his son, Jay Measley and wife Patricia; his daughters, Bonnie and husband Andy Russo and Gail and husband Doug Walters; grandchildren, John Morris, Robert Morris, Lisa Bingham, Holly Bingham, Charles Measley and Anne Measley; great-grandchildren, Cameron Morris and Logan Morris; as well as many nieces and nephews.
Visitation was Aug. 1 with a service at Thompson Memorial Home, Red Bank. Burial was Aug. 3 at Oak Grove Cemetery in Hammonton.
The article originally appeared in the August 6 – 12, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
