John Albert (Jack) Hargreaves died on June 8. He was 87.

Jack was born on August 4, 1932, in Willimantic, Conn., to Edna Vanderman Hargreaves and John Albert Hargreaves. He graduated in 1950 from Willimantic High School, where he played on the football team and was inducted into the Boy Scouts of America’s prestigious Order of the Arrow.

Jack graduated from Amherst College in 1954 and was active in alumni activities, especially with the Amherst Association on Martha’s Vineyard. He earned an MBA from the University of Hartford in 1968 while raising a family and holding a full-time job.

After his graduation from Amherst, Jack joined the Army and served from 1954 to 1956. Jack was posted to Germany, but his departure was delayed by the illness of his father. By the time he arrived in Germany, his unit had already deployed and it was too late to rejoin.

Jack reported to the local personnel office for assignment and recognized the officer, who had caddied at the same country club in Connecticut where Jack had worked a summer job. Wanting to help a friend, the officer suggested an assignment in Munich. Jack worked in the office of personnel, traveling to U.S. bases across Europe. He took advantage of everything Munich had to offer, from attending classes at the University of Munich to enjoying an occasional beer at the Hofbräuhaus.

A co-worker introduced Jack to Ute Ziemer, a young German woman who worked for the Army as an interpreter. Ute, who had previously declined invitations by several American soldiers who invited her to bars, said yes to Jack when he invited her to an opera.

Jack and Ute’s courtship included trips to the opera and ski outings in the Alps. By the time Jack was discharged from the Army in 1956, they were engaged. Jack returned to Connecticut after completing his military service and his fiancée followed shortly. Jack and Ute were married on July 13, 1957, in Storrs, Conn., and remained married for 61 years until Ute’s death in 2018.

After leaving the Army, Jack took a job with The Stanley Works and remained with the company for 28 years. Through The Stanley Works, Jack, Ute, and their three children moved to various locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania; then to São Paulo, Brazil, where Jack headed Stanley’s Brazil subsidiary; Windsor, England, where he ran the company’s Europe and Middle East operations; and back to Connecticut. Jack eventually left The Stanley Works and joined Walter Kidde, moving to Chapel Hill, N.C., and later returned with Ute to Brazil for two more years before retiring in 1993 to Sarasota, Fla.

Jack served multiple terms as a town councilman in Plainville, Conn. and volunteered for many years as treasurer of the East Chop Tennis Club on Martha’s Vineyard.

He was an accomplished handyman and spent time maintaining and restoring the summer home he and Ute bought on Martha’s Vineyard in 1978. Jack was an excellent cook and enjoyed gathering his family for dinners at the Vineyard house.

An avid student of history, he read voraciously in both English and German and also researched the genealogies of both his and Ute’s families. He took pride in the fact that his father immigrated to the United States from Yorkshire, England at age 16, and that his mother could trace her roots in Connecticut to before 1860.

He is survived by his son, John, daughters Christine Hargreaves Ewing and Anne Hargreaves Corley, and is grandfather and great-grandfather to many. He was adored by his family and will be sorely missed.

Memorial contributions can be made to Camp Jabberwocky of Martha’s Vineyard.