Longtime Ohio Farmers Union member and advocate John B. Gaynor (1922-2014) passed away on February 10. His son, John P. Gaynor, carries on the OFU tradition and serves as vice president of the Fulton County Farmers Union.
A celebration of his life will be held April 19 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the VFW Hall, 76 Depot St., Geneva, Ohio.
John was a WWII U.S. Navy veteran and a founding member of the Trumbull Twp. Volunteer Fire Department. The obituary below originally appeared in the Ashtabula Star-Beacon.
John B. Gaynor
Star Beacon
TRUMBULL TOWNSHIP — John B. Gaynor, born June 4, 1922, in Footville, Ohio, passed away on Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, at the age of 91.
He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 44 years, Mary A. Gaynor (Finnegan); his parents, John T. and Nellie (Towers) Gaynor; sister, Mary Elizabeth Dalton; and his brother, Theodore Gaynor.
He is survived by his eight children, Mary Joan Pope (Fred) of Doylestown, Pa., John Gaynor (Ginny) of Wauseon, Ohio, Anne Yeager (Bob) of Orwell, Ohio, Susan Hunt (Bill) of Paupak, Pa., Judith Campbell (Don) of Jefferson, Ohio, Jane Reynolds (Tom) of Shaker Heights, Ohio, James Gaynor of Ashtabula, Ohio, and Janet Handshaw (Steve) of Solon, Ohio; 12 grandchildren, Jessica Rojas (Hunt), Bill Hunt, Susan Yeager, Kyle Yeager, Allison Burger (Pope), Collen Pope, Fred Pope, Jack Gaynor, Evan Gaynor, Drew Gaynor, Ian Campbell and Colin Campbell; four great-grandchildren; and his companion and caregiver of many years, Helen Requa of Geneva Ohio.
Mr. Gaynor was a World War II Navy Veteran; a life-long (staunch) Democrat; and a founding member of the Trumbull Township Volunteer Fire Dept. and Ruritan National. He retired in 1982 after serving 25 years in the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the former ASCS (FSA) District Director of Northeast Ohio.
Mr. Gaynor will be remembered for teaching generations of Gaynor family members and their friends the game of Cinch, a card game at which he rarely lost. Next to farming, Mr. Gaynor enjoyed traveling and visited every state with the exception of two.
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