John Grimaldi

John Grimaldi, ROTC staff, 1963-65; Sergeant first class, U.S. Army, died on September 16, 2019, in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

(The following was published in the Burlington County Times on September 18, 2019:)

John Grimaldi, a resident of Mount Laurel, N.J., passed away in early morn of Monday, Sept. 16, 2019, at the age of 93. In passing, he joined his loving wife, Anna Maria.

Born and raised as Giacchino or Jack in his youth, within the turbulent Italian Quarter of Federal Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, Jack was Giuseppe and Rosa’s twelfth of thirteen siblings. He was the last of his clan to pass—the Last of the Mohicans. He made his home in South Jersey for forty-five years (also at Willingboro), after retiring from the U.S. Army.

John served in the Pacific during World War II, seeing action in Okinawa and later in Korea. He re-enlisted to serve in Europe during the Marshall Plan initiative of Europe. With three other enlisted men and one officer, they left Salzburg, Austria, on a mission to reconnoiter the establishment of Camp Darby between Livorno and Pisa, Italy.

He later served as a ROTC instructor at Bowdoin College in Maine. He was an avid stamp and coin collector and a big-time sci-fi fan. Above all else, he loved his wife AnnaMaria, who passed away in 2012, and his famiglia. He also loved to eat, drink wine and share stories with his amici Rino & Camillo in the Livorno country side of Italy, in his retirement as a Sergeant First Class/SFC.

He is survived by his sons, Gianni Grimaldi and wife, Chiara, and David Joseph Grimaldi and wife, Lori, and grandchildren, David and Gabriella.

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