Volpe, John Joseph Jr.
MECHANICVILLE — John Joseph Volpe, Jr., sadly passed away on December 19, 2020, at Samaritan Hospital, with his loving family by his side, after a courageous four month battle with lung cancer.
Born in Troy on May 28, 1947, son of the late John and Antoinette (Mezzanini) Volpe, he was a 1965 graduate of Mechanicville High School.
John worked as a master machinist for General Electric for many years until his retirement nearly 20 years ago. He joined GE through an apprentice program and worked his career in both their Schenectady plant and R and D Program at the Niskayuna facility. John’s workmanship was responsible for many patents throughout the years for multiple government agencies including NASA, for which he made several work contributions to its spacecraft.
Recently, John starting working for Toyota of Clifton Park, a job he loved, as a driver for many different tasks. If you asked John, his hard work was attributed to his first real job, as a Leonard Street paperboy in his youth.
He was a strong community asset and was involved in such programs as Little League and Sandy Koufax coaching, church school teacher and volunteering at the Community Center. Basically, anywhere his children were active, he made himself available to help. Throughout life, his children and later his grandchildren guided the activities that meant the most to him. They were truly his most important things.
John was also a tremendous dancer. He and wife Paula traveled the country to compete in ballroom dancing competitions and claimed several first place trophies along the way. Very musically inclined, he played saxophone in Jazz Band winning the state title and playing at the World’s Fair. John’s playful nature combined with his willingness to mentor shined through to his children and grandchildren. While he taught them how to play pool and sports, they taught him how to play video games like Minecraft and Roblox.
Survivors include his loving wife of 50 years, Paula Petronis Volpe, whom he married on April 11, 1970; his children, John Paul (Dottie) Volpe of Crown Pointe, Jennifer Volpe (Bob Perreault) of Mechanicville and Jeffery Volpe (Trevor Shaw) of Lindenwold, N.J.; adored grandchildren, Daniel, Rozalyn and John Perreault; sister Madeline (Joseph) Miller of Florida; sisters-in-law, Dianne (The late Greg) Noblett, Kimberly Petronis; and niece and nephews, Mary (David) Pogan, Christopher (Kristen) Miller, the late Joseph Miller and his wife Lara and Robert and Richard Noblett.
Calling hours at the Devito-salvadore Funeral Home, 39 So. Main St., Mechanicville on Tuesday from 5-7 p.m. A private funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday in All Saints on the Hudson Church, 121 No. Main St., Mechanicville with burial to follow in St. Paul’s Cemetery. Those wishing to attend the funeral Mass are required to call the funeral home for time and attendance control. There will be a live stream of the funeral Mass on the funeral home Facebook page for anyone interested starting at 10 a.m. Due to COVID-19 guidelines, wearing of masks will be mandatory and social distancing guidelines will be followed at all services.
Those wishing to remember John in a special way are asked to make contributions to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or the Alzheimer’s Association, 4 Pine West Plaza #405, Albany, NY 12205 in his memory.
During this difficult time, friends and family are encouraged to visit www. devito-salvadorefh.com for directions and to leave condolences, and share photos and special memories they have of John.