MONTICELLO, Maine – John A. Grass Jr., fondly known as “Jack”, died on November 26, 2017, he was 85. Jack was born in Monticello on March 3, 1932, the third son of John A. and Lona Delong Grass.
Jack attended Ricker Institute in Houlton, and graduated from Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield where he met the love of his life, Mary-Lou Davis Grass, of Newport. He also attended Becker College in Worcester, Massachusetts. He wed Mary-Lou in 1951 and they made their home on the family land on the Lake Road in Monticello. There they raised three children and eventually saw the arrival of numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Through that time, Jack split his time between being a brakeman and conductor for the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad and farming potatoes.
He and Mary-Lou fulfilled a lifelong dream when they built their home on the 30-acre farm “pond”, which is also where they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. An avid outdoorsman, Jack enjoyed hunting, fishing, and trapping throughout his life and most recently enjoyed feeding and watching the birds and deer outside his home. He spent many seasons hunting and fishing, playing cribbage and telling tall tales of the same at his camp on the South Branch. He was a senior member of the Monticello Fish and Game Club and was instrumental in building the new clubhouse. Jack was a member of the Monticello Town Council for nine years and was active in local politics, taking part in local elections.
In addition to his parents, Jack was predeceased by his wife, Mary-Lou, his brothers, Luther Grass, Norman Grass and his wife, Francis, and his sister, Pearl London and her husband, Robert London, and his brother-in-law, Ray Dingman. He is survived by his brother, Robert Grass, and his wife, Bobby, his sister, Joanne Dingman, and his sister-in-law, Kay Grass; his three children, Lona Grass Sewell and her husband, Gary, Laurice Grass-Bell and her partner, Mike Foster, and Lawrence Grass and his wife, Joyce, and many loving grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
At the family’s request interment will be private. Relatives and friends are invited to a time of reception, 4 p.m. Wednesday, November 29, 2017, at the Monticello Fish & Game Club at 82 Russell Rock Rd., Monticello. Arrangements in care of Dunn Funeral Home, 11 Park St. Houlton, ME 04730. Online condolences may be expressed on the Life Tribute Wall at: dunnfuneral.com
