John J. Gaffney, age 84, of The Villages Florida, formerly of Wayne NJ, passed away on Monday March 13, 2023.
John was born in Kearny, New Jersey on July 1, 1938 to Christina and James Gaffney. He attended Saint Cecilia’s Grammar School in Kearny and then went on to attend Kearny High School. At Kearny High School, John played soccer and basketball. He was a member of Kearny High School’s 1955 Soccer State Championship team. It was at Kearny High School that he met the love of his life, Terry.
After graduating from Kearny High School in 1956, John served for two years in the United States Army. After being honorably discharged, John became a pressman, working for 43 years at the Newark News, the Newark Star Ledger, and the Paterson News.
John married his love, Terry on November 19, 1960. The couple lived in Kearny and Lake Hiawatha before moving to Wayne in 1969. The couple lived on Bullens Avenue in Wayne for 45 years before moving to The Villages in Florida in 2014. John and Terry shared 57 years of marriage before she passed in 2017. The couple had three sons: Brian, Ted, and John. John was an active participant in the lives of his children and the Wayne community. John coached baseball with the Wayne Little League, coached basketball with the Our Lady of the Valley CYO program and he was the manager of his sons’ Wayne Boys Club youth football teams. John was also an active member of the Wayne Elks and the Knights of Columbus.
John had a strong faith in God and a strong commitment to serving others through AA. John had a great sense of humor and really enjoyed spending time talking and socializing with his friends at the local coffee shops both in Wayne and in the Villages in Florida. John loved sports and he especially enjoyed watching his grandchildren play. John was an avid Giants, Yankees and Knicks fan.
John is predeceased by his wife Terry, his parents Christina and James, his brothers James (Annamae), P. Donald (Lorraine), his sister Dorothy Milewski (Raymond), his brother-in-law Thomas Canning and his nephew Stephen. He leaves behind his three sons, Brian and his wife Linda, Ted and his wife Theresa, and John as well as his sister Rose Canning, his eight grandchildren, Michael, Katelyn and her husband Jonathan Whitcraft, Megan, Marie, Sean, Faith Mary, Maeve and Matthew and numerous nieces and nephews.
John will be sorely missed by his family and friends.
Visitation, Wednesday, 3/22, 4-8 pm, at Vander May Funeral Home in Wayne, NJ. Funeral Mass Thursday, 3/23 at 10:30 am, Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church, Wayne, NJ.
In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in John’s name are asked to consider Boys & Girls Club of Wayne, 153 Garside Avenue, Wayne, NJ 07470.