John C. Goffin, 81, of 20 Brown Square, Ipswich, husband of Betty Lou (Ryea) Goffin, died Saturday July 19, 2008 in the Lahey Hitchcock Medical Center, Burlington, following his long illness.

Born in Reading, PA April 1, 1927, one of the three children of the late John and Mary Emma (Keeley) Goffin. The son of a millwright, his family lived in Connecticut, Florida and in Auburn, ME where he attended high school and entered the Navy at the age of seventeen. During WWII he served aboard several frigates and the aircraft carrier Kearsage. During the Korean War he served in the Army as a military policeman. Following his honorable discharge he returned home to Maine and married the following year in Hebron, ME. The Goffin’s made their homes in the Brunswick and Lewiston areas where they started their family. For thirty years they lived in Rowley and have lived in Ipswich since 1994. During the years of his employment Mr. Goffin worked as an auto and truck mechanic. For many years he was the owner and operator of a long haul truck. Retiring in 1985 he went to work for the next nine years in the deli at the Market Basket in Rowley.

Mr. Goffin enjoyed writing. He wrote personal memoirs, wrote about family and the beauty of nature. He also enjoyed painting, sketching, carving, jazz, the blues and opera at Tanglewood.

He was a member of Ipswich AMVETS Post #201, the Brunswick, ME VFW Post # 616 and the Brunswick  AMVETS. He was a   former communicant of St. Mary’s Church in Rowley.

In addition to his wife of fifty-five years he is survived by a son, John S. Goffin and his wife Judith of Chelmsford; three daughters, Elaine Moon and her husband Ronald of Ipswich, Donna Tillotson-Riggs and her husband Garland of Fredericktown, MO and Marriann Goffin and her fiancee’ Richard Gordon of Danvers; ten grandchildren; thirteen great grandchildren; a sister, Helen Porier of Norway, ME and many nephews and nieces. He was the brother of the late Eleanor Saunders of Hebron, ME and the late Mary Davis of Brunswick, ME.

His funeral service will be held Wednesday, July 23, at 11 am in the Whittier-Porter Funeral Home, 6 High St., Ipswich, followed by interment with Military Honors in the Cowles Memorial Cemetery, Ipswich. Family and friends are respectfully welcomed. Visiting hours are Tuesday 4 to 8 pm. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions in his name may be made to the St. Jude Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Pl., Memphis, TN 38105.