Necrology

John Paul “Pat” a.k.a. “Jack” Cleary '68

Aug. 26, 1946-Sep. 9, 2024

John Paul “Pat” a.k.a. “Jack” Cleary ’68, P’91,’03 died at his home in Dallas, Pa., on Sept. 9, 2024. Known on the Hill as Pat, and elsewhere and for the rest of his life as Jack, he was born on Aug. 26, 1946, in Carbondale, Pa., and grew up there and in Waverly, N.Y. He came to Hamilton from Waverly High School where, in his senior year, he was student body president. At that time, his ambition was to become a lawyer.

On the Hill, Pat was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity and initially minored in economics while majoring in English. He was president of the Class of 1968 during his sophomore year, chaired the College’s social committee, and was steward of his fraternity. He was in the Doers & Thinkers honor society and Was Los as a junior. 

Pat was on the football team from his first through his junior years, ran track in his first two years, and was on the basketball team as a freshman and the baseball and squash teams as a sophomore. His academic work, in his own assessment, would take a backseat to sports. As he candidly recalled in his 25th reunion yearbook: “Instead, I majored in athletics (football, basketball, and track), minored in small business (sandwich concession, bartending, and surveying), and halfway through my junior year went to Army O.C.S.” Enlisting in the U.S. Army in February 1967 and graduating from Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir later that year, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers.

In the fall of his freshman year, Pat began dating Marianne Nemeth, whom he had known in high school. In December 1967, following his graduation from O.C.S., they were married. They would have five children, the first of whom was born while Pat was in the Army.

Subsequently promoted to first lieutenant, he was assigned as an artillery officer and forward observer to the 199th infantry brigade in Vietnam and served with distinction. He was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, an Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Gold Palm, and meritorious and valorous unit citations.

Following his honorable separation from active duty, Pat and his family returned to the Hill in September 1969. He found the College to be very different than when he first arrived back in 1964. “The Hamilton I returned to wore its hair longer, spent more time in protests than at the ‘Shoe,’ and had girls.” He continued: “I was different, too. I was a husband, a father, and a veteran who wanted to finish my remaining three semesters in two.” Dean Winton Tolles and Professor Sidney Wertimer made that possible, and Pat, now majoring in economics, graduated with the Class of 1970, though he retained a strong allegiance to the Class of 1968 thereafter. 

Pat was interested in sales and began his career in 1970 working in Dallas, Pa., as a trader for L.R. McCoy & Sons, a distributor and wholesaler of lumber and landscaping products. In 1976, he started with Furman Lumber Inc., a private building supplies distributor. Five years later, Pat founded his own business, Cleary Forest Products, a brokerage dealer in lumber and plywood, also located in Dallas, Pa. He would preside over that business for 43 years, completing his final order early in September 2024.

Pat had a strong commitment to community service. With three daughters and two sons, he coached Little League baseball teams, youth soccer, and basketball over the years. He cheered on his children who played field hockey and tennis as well. He spent two terms on the Dallas School District school board and was president of the board from 1991 to 1992. He was president of the Valley Swim and Tennis Club, on the Eagle Scout board of review, including a year as chairman, and on the Elk Lake Development Association. He also taught economics classes at Luzerne County Community College.

Pat was a founding member and vice president of the Northeast Pennsylvania Veterans Multi-Service Center. In tandem with that work, he was also an active volunteer at Patriot’s Cove, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping veterans and first responders heal and adapt to life after their service.

Pat also liked to hunt pheasant and grouse, and for that reason was also a regular volunteer at Ringneck Ridge, a hunting preserve near his hometown.

Two of his five children were Hamilton alumni. The youngest was Mike Cleary ’03, who followed his oldest sister, Erin Cleary Shannon ’91, to the Hill. Like his father before him, Mike enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduation, largely in response to the events of September 11th, and was deployed to Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. On Dec. 20, 2005, just 10 days before his tour was to end, he was killed by a roadside bomb near Samarra, Iraq. 

In 2006, Pat, aided by Jim Schoff ’68 and Hal Higby ’68, established the First Lieutenant Michael J. Cleary ’03 Scholarship to be awarded to a student who demonstrates the highest qualities of citizenship, commitment, and spirit of service to Hamilton and the greater community, with preference given to a son or daughter of an individual injured or killed in the service of their country. 

Reflecting on his time on the Hill in his 40th reunion yearbook, Pat wrote: “I’ve carried a profound sense of community, service, hard work, and an enduring desire to learn from Hamilton. Marianne and I will never forget the outpouring of love and caring extended to us personally and the wonderful support for the Mike Cleary Scholarship.”

Pat supported the College not only through the scholarship created in Michael’s memory, but also contributions to the Delta Upsilon Scholarship, the Career Center, and the Hamilton Fund.

Pat’s sense of service was not only manifest in his contributions to organizations, but also to individuals. One of the beneficiaries of his attention who knew him as “Jack” memorialized him on the memory wall of his online obituary, saying: “Jack was entirely responsible for the most important formative elements of my life. Most critically, he was a role model and guide for me — a father figure I looked up to when I could not find the spiritual, intellectual, and moral guidance from my own. There is so much I would love to say about how important he was to me, but I will leave it that the world is the worse for the loss of this man.”

John Paul Cleary was predeceased by his son Michael ’03 and survived by his wife, three daughters, including Erin Cleary Shannon ’91, and one son.

Necrology Home