John E. O'Kane

Waltham – Mr. John E. O'Kane, of Waltham, died Monday, September 22, 2014 at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. He was 91.

John was born in Dorchester on July 3, 1923, a son of the late Alexander and Mary (Doherty) O'Kane. He was raised in Dorchester and was a graduate of Dorchester High School.

During World War II he served with the United States Army as part of the 3rd Military Government Regiment. His unit landed in Normandy a day after the invasion of Europe and saw action in Northern France, the Rhineland and during the infamous Ardennes Campaign, better known as the 'Battle of the Bulge' during the hard winter of 1944/45.

Discharged from the service just after Christmas, 1945 he came home to Dorchester and in the spring of 1946 resurrected his baseball skills and began playing professional baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization in the Florida State League.

In 1949 he married Carmen B. Cullati at Our Lady of the Presentation Church in Brighton. The couple moved to Waltham in 1955 where they raised their family and have been residents since.

Until his retirement John worked in the trucking industry, first as a driver, foreman and in later years as a sales representative.

In addition to his beloved wife of sixty-five years, Carmen, he leaves his children, John A. O'Kane of Darien, Connecticut, Stephen M. O'Kane and his wife, Cheryl, of Venice, Florida and William B. O'Kane and his wife, Donna, of Watertown; his grandchildren, Kristen Lindahl and Laura Khoury and his sister, Helen Carew of Needham.

John was also a brother of the late Alexander O'Kane and Mary O'Brien.

Family and friends will honor and remember John's life by gathering to visit at 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham before leaving in procession to Saint Jude Church, 147 Main Street, Waltham where his Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Burial will be in Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne.