CONCORD, Mass. – John Henry Cantlin, 89, of Acton, Mass., formerly of Lincoln, Mass., and Lewiston, died Monday, April 20, at Emerson Hospital. He was the beloved husband of Antoinette “Toni” (Tempesta) Cantlin, to whom he was married for 66 years.

He was born in Manchester, Conn., on March 15, 1920, the son of the late John Clifford Cantlin and Rena Bell (Brown) Cantlin. After graduating from Lewiston High School in 1938, he earned a BSME from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1942, and later attended the Harvard Advanced Management Program in 1966.

During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps as a major with the 4020th Army Air Force Base Unit.

He ran several companies in the Boston area including Smithcraft Lighting Co., Spincraft Corp., Electronized Chemicals Corp., and Hudson Lock Co. from which he retired as executive vice president in 1985. He held a number of U.S. patents including the multistep work positioned for woodworkers.

He was a Lincoln resident from 1965 until 1997, prior to moving to Acton. In Lincoln, he served as a member of the board of directors of the DeCordova Museum, and also was a member of the Lincoln Friends of the Council on Aging. Other activities included being a member of President Vest’s Council on the Arts at MIT, and the advisory board of the New England Document Conservation Center.

In addition to his wife, Toni, survivors include a daughter, Linda Goetz and her husband, John, of North Attleboro, Mass.; a son, John Cantlin and his wife, Jean, of Baltimore, Md.; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren; and a daughter-in-law, Vicky.

He was predeceased by a son, Richard Cantlin; and a sister, Regina Carson and her late husband, Bruce, of Washington, D.C.

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