John Meenaghan

Bradford, MA John Meenaghan died on April 21, 2021 in Bradford, Massachusetts. He was 75 years old. He was born on August 17, 1945 in Queens, NY to Peter and Mary (nee Geraghty) Meenaghan. John grew up in Astoria, Queens with his three sisters, Agnes, Mary, and Kathleen. He attended parochial schools in Queens and Patterson, NJ and graduated from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice (City University of New York) in 1975 with a degree in Criminal Justice. John had a successful thirty-year career as a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (now Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives). He was stationed in New York City, Albany and Buffalo, New York, where he was the Resident Agent in Charge, in Miami, Florida, and ended his career as Operations Officer in Boston, Massachusetts, retiring in 2002. John also served his country in the U.S. Army and was honorably discharged in 1967, continuing in the US Army Reserve until 1973. John loved life and he lived it to the fullest. He was a life-long learner, was interested in just about everything, and made friends wherever he went. He loved animals, he enjoyed collecting early American artifacts, and enjoyed traveling, as well as swimming, skiing, scuba diving, and golfing well into his later years. Left to mourn John are his son Jesse; his wife Rita Paulits; his sisters Mary Dassaro and Kathleen Reilly; his brother-in-law Richard Reilly; his nieces and nephews Sean Reilly, Maura Reilly Kennedy, Bridget Reilly Regan, Jennifer Dassaro Holland, and Mary Dassaro Thompson; and numerous cousins and friends, including his special ATF friends Don Diener and Gary Wallace, and special friends Barbara O’Donnell, Allan Ball and their children Benjamin, Colby, and Caitlyn, and Dianne Sheppard. John will be greatly missed by all who knew him. John was pre-deceased by his parents, his beloved sister Agnes Flanagan, his mother and father-in-law Alexandria and Janis Paulits, and his brothers-in-law Joseph Flanagan and Vincent Dassaro. Funeral services will be private and there are no calling hours. Internment will be in Albany Rural Cemetery. To leave online expressions of sympathy, please visit www.MarraFuneralHome.com. Please consider making a donation in John’s name to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (mskcc.org), P.O. Box 5028, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5028; or to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA.org), 501 Front Street, Norfolk, VA 23510.

John Meenaghan

August 17, 1945 - April 21, 2021