Obituary for John Butterfield Walls
John Butterfield Walls
August 11, 1932 – December 2, 2021
In December of last year John Butterfield Walls, 89, died peacefully near the Hulls Cove home he and his wife Marjorie lived in for 45 years. Interestingly, hospital births were reportedly not allowed during the summer of the year he was born “because it might disturb the summer people.” Characteristically, John added his own kind of excitement when he was birthed at home with his parents, John T. and Barbara (Butterfield) Walls.
John (also lovingly known as “Jack” after his grandfather John H. “Jack” Butterfield) attended Bar Harbor Elementary School and High School. He was especially proud of his Boy Scout experiences and as a young teenager was on the very last vehicle to evacuate the town during the Great Fire of 1947. After briefly attending the University of Maine at Orono he enlisted in the Air Force and was immediately assigned to wartime duty in South Korea. He married Ariel Marjorie Stevens, his high school sweetheart, also of Bar Harbor, while on leave from Korea. John’s 23 years of military service also included a combat tour in Viet Nam as well as assignments to England, Germany, Puerto Rico, New York, Arkansas, Texas, Maine, and Arizona. He and Marjorie were married a remarkable 67 years.
Upon retiring from the Air Force John and his wife returned to Bar Harbor and worked alongside his father at the J.H. Butterfield grocery store and delicatessen, a three-generation family business. Following his father’s death John managed the grocery store and the John T. Walls Christmas Wreaths business for nearly two decades. He was an active member of the Bar Harbor Historical Society, the Hulls Cove School House Board, the Clam City Waybackers, St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, and was Adjutant for the local chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 25.
John was proud to have served the Air Force and his country. He generously loved his family and his many friends. He is survived by his wife, two children, four grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.
Please join our family at his memorial service on August 29th at 2:00 p.m. at St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, 41 Mt. Desert Street, Bar Harbor. Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com
August 11, 1932 – December 2, 2021
In December of last year John Butterfield Walls, 89, died peacefully near the Hulls Cove home he and his wife Marjorie lived in for 45 years. Interestingly, hospital births were reportedly not allowed during the summer of the year he was born “because it might disturb the summer people.” Characteristically, John added his own kind of excitement when he was birthed at home with his parents, John T. and Barbara (Butterfield) Walls.
John (also lovingly known as “Jack” after his grandfather John H. “Jack” Butterfield) attended Bar Harbor Elementary School and High School. He was especially proud of his Boy Scout experiences and as a young teenager was on the very last vehicle to evacuate the town during the Great Fire of 1947. After briefly attending the University of Maine at Orono he enlisted in the Air Force and was immediately assigned to wartime duty in South Korea. He married Ariel Marjorie Stevens, his high school sweetheart, also of Bar Harbor, while on leave from Korea. John’s 23 years of military service also included a combat tour in Viet Nam as well as assignments to England, Germany, Puerto Rico, New York, Arkansas, Texas, Maine, and Arizona. He and Marjorie were married a remarkable 67 years.
Upon retiring from the Air Force John and his wife returned to Bar Harbor and worked alongside his father at the J.H. Butterfield grocery store and delicatessen, a three-generation family business. Following his father’s death John managed the grocery store and the John T. Walls Christmas Wreaths business for nearly two decades. He was an active member of the Bar Harbor Historical Society, the Hulls Cove School House Board, the Clam City Waybackers, St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, and was Adjutant for the local chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 25.
John was proud to have served the Air Force and his country. He generously loved his family and his many friends. He is survived by his wife, two children, four grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.
Please join our family at his memorial service on August 29th at 2:00 p.m. at St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, 41 Mt. Desert Street, Bar Harbor. Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com