John L. Brislin

John L. Brislin, 75, a resident of Garden Spot Village in New Holland died January 31, 2014.

A son of the late Edward and Lucy Boney Brislin he was the youngest of three brothers and grew up among a large extended family.

A 1956 graduate of Meyers High School in Wilkes-Barre, Jack left the Wyoming Valley for the Lehigh Valley where he attended Lafayette College and earned his BA in Chemistry.

Wrestling was Jack’s sport throughout his high school and college years. After winning a YMCA wrestling tournament in junior high school, he went on to become the second recipient of the Hooper Award honoring the outstanding wrestler in the Wyoming Valley. At Lafayette, where he was nicknamed “Greased Lightning,” Jack wrestled on the varsity team all four years.

In 1960, Jack moved to Lancaster to begin his career with Armstrong World Industries. While working as a production chemist and research scientist with Armstrong, Jack attended the college of business at Temple University. For many years, Jack worked in industrial engineering, sheet flooring, and adhesives. Toward the end of his thirty-five year career with Armstrong, Jack managed quality assurance and claims administration as well as installation products and services. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Chicago to work for Kentile as VP Product Development and Quality Assurance and as a consultant to international flooring manufacturers.

In the mid-1960s Jack bought his first horse and was soon riding through the then undeveloped neighborhoods of East Hempfield Township. A strong love of horses and fox hunting kept him active with the Rose Tree Hunt Club through the early 1980s. Jack participated in Lancaster and Devon horse shows, but he most enjoyed driving buggies on the dirt roads and taking long horseback rides through the mountains of Sullivan County.

Jack was active in the community as a Republican Committeeman and was a member of the Hempfield School District Board of Directors. Jack loved building and fixing things and was frequently engaged with projects. He would say that you need the right tool for the right job, and he had the collection to back it up.

In March 2010 Jack returned to Lancaster County to become a resident of Garden Spot Village in New Holland. From this residence Jack was able to enjoy regular tours through the fields and horse farms of Lancaster County.

He is survived by his three children, John of New York City, Ellen and Jill of Chicago; his former wife, Patricia Corgan Brislin of Lancaster; brothers, Edward and his wife Mary Ann Brislin of Orange, California and Donald and his wife Carolyn Brislin of Dallas, Pennsylvania; many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Celebration of Jack’s Life will include a Funeral Mass on Tuesday at 10:15 AM in All Saints Church on Willow Street in Plymouth. Private interment will be in Saint Vincent’s Cemetery in Larksville.

Visitation will be held Monday from 5 to 8 PM at McLaughlin’s – The Family Funeral Service, 142 South Washington Street in Wilkes-Barre.

The family wishes to thank the caregivers and community at Garden Spot Village for their conscientious and loving care they gave to our father.

Memorial donations are preferred and may be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association at www.lbda.org

Permanent message and memories can be shared with Jack’s family at www.celebratehislife.com