James J. Stelline
James J. Stelline, 89, of Larch Lane,
Wenham, husband of sixty years to the late Viola M. (Dukeshire) Stelline,
died Friday, October 7, 2011 in the Kaplan Family Hospice House,
Danvers, following his brief illness.
Born in Hamilton March 1, 1922 son of
the late Antonio and Maria (DiProfio) Stelline, he was raised in
Hamilton attending Hamilton public schools. During WWII he served with
the U.S. Army 93rd Signal Battalion in France, Rhineland,
Ardennes and central Europe. He was honorably discharged with a Purple
Heart. Married in 1947 the Stellines made their home and raised their
family on Linebrook Road, Ipswich. During these years he was employed as
a construction foreman with N.N. Flynn in Danvers. He later served as
the director of the Hamilton Department of Public Works from which he
retired in 1986. For the past twenty-five years and until his recent
illness, he worked as a maintenance carpenter with the Topsfield Fair.
Mr. Stelline was an avid bowler, a
charter and the longest member of the Fliver Bowling League. He also
enjoyed cribbage with his friends, home gardening and his summers spent
with his family in the cabin he built in Cherryfield, Maine.
He served as a board member with the
Wenham Housing Authority, was a communicant of St. Paul’s Church in
Hamilton and a member of the American Legion A.P. Gardner Post #194 in
Hamilton.
He is survived by a daughter, Linda M.
Maidment and her husband Fredrick of Hamilton; four sons James M.
Stelline of Oklahoma City, OK, Thomas J. Stelline and his wife Valerie
of Levant, ME, Ronald D. Stelline of Haverhill and John D. Stelline and
his wife Cathy of Ipswich; eighteen grandchildren; twenty-four great
grandchildren; a brother Henry Stelline of Danvers; five sisters, Anne
Mazzetta of Wenham, Theresa Zampell and Elizabeth Chagnon both of
Hamilton and Camilla Butman and Virginia Scoila both of Beverly, and
many nephews and nieces.
His funeral service with Military
Honors will be held Wednesday, October 12, 11 am graveside in the
Hamilton Cemetery, Hamilton. Family and friends are respectfully
welcomed. Arrangements are under the direction of the Whittier-Porter
Funeral Home of Ipswich. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions in
his name may be made to the Shriner’s Burn Hospital for Children, 51
Blossom Street, Boston, MA 02114.
