1924 – 2013

AUBURN — John J. Lander Jr., 89, of Auburn, passed away at the Androscoggin Hospice House on Wednesday, Sept. 11.

He was born June 10, 1924, in Natick, Mass., the first son of John J. Lander Sr. and Dorothy Robeson Lander of Newton, Mass. He graduated from Newton High School in 1943. He was one of the early volunteers of the 10th Mountain Division in Colorado during World War II and served in Italy and the Philippine Islands.

John married the late Constance Cooper Proctor on Jan. 14, 1951. They had four children: Cynthia, John J. III, Timothy and Robert. On Sept. 7, 1975, he married Barbara P. Lowell of Auburn.

After the armed services, he was employed as a hard rock tunnel worker, then as an investigator for the William Burns Detective Agency in Boston. He worked as a sales and service representative for Fletcher Granite Company. He also was president and treasurer of Maine and New Hampshire Granite Corporation.

John enjoyed everything outdoors: skiing with the National Ski Patrol, gardening and hunting and fishing with his wife, Barbara. He was a registered Maine master guide, a member of the V.F.W. Post 1603, American Legion Post 153, a Kora Shriner in the Crazy Cop unit, where he was known as “Fat Cat” and a 50-year member of Tranquil Lodge No. 29.

He is survived by his loving wife, Barbara; sister, Sibyl Fletcher Labonte; daughter, Cynthia Eldredge and husband, Thomas; and sons, John J., III and wife, Deborah, Timothy and wife, Nancy and Robert and wife, ILKE; grandchildren, Brandon, Tyler, Kali, Hunter, Tucker, Stuart, Caleb, Emma, Isabel and Ian; and one great-grandchild, Keegan Timothy.

He was predeceased by a sister, Jackie Schofield and brother, Ted Lander.