Retired Vice President of Wakefield Item Press
PEABODY — John B. Tredinnick of Peabody, formerly of Wakefield, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully after a period of failing health at his residence at Brooksby Village on December 1, 2022 at the age of 95.
John was born September 2, 1927 at 129 Pleasant St. in Wakefield, the son of the late Frank Alexander and Mary Louise Tredinnick. He was a member of the WHS Class of 1945 and served during WWII in the U.S. Navy in 1945-46. After the service, he attended Vesper George School of Art and Boston University Metropolitan College. Later he moved to Canaan, N.H. to enter the weekly newspaper and graphic arts field. He returned to Wakefield in 1952 with his wife Ann and daughter Leslie to pursue a printing production career with Wakefield Item Press, where after 41 years he retired as vice president in 1993.
Active in a variety of community organizations, he was a past trustee of the Melrose-Wakefield Hospital Association, as well as Lakeside Cemetery Corporation where he served nine years as president. He was also a dedicated member of the Rotary Club of Wakefield for more than 35 years, holding several offices including President in 1984-85. He received Rotary’s “Service Above Self” Paul Harris Award in 1986, 2008, and 2012. He volunteered his help wherever there was a need. At home he enjoyed gardening and wood-working, family vacations to New Hampshire and Cape Cod and visiting friends far and wide. Following the example of his parents, he rarely missed a Town Meeting. A long-time family interest in the Beebe Memorial Library was particularly important to him.
When Wakefield’s WCAT-TV public access station offered another communications field, he joined a Rotary team of volunteers to learn television production. During his retirement he also enjoyed traveling to Florida, touring around the U.S. and Europe, especially the UK where he and his sister would visit family in Cornwall all the while keeping meticulous track of all the different beers they’d sample — room temperature of course!
After moving to Brooksby Village in 2003 where he made many friends, John continued his interest in the graphic arts field as a consultant for marketing, advertising, and public relations, volunteering his time at their in-house television studio. He always went out for a walk every day around the Brooksby campus and for a few years kept a garden plot so he could have his own tomatoes and fresh flowers.
John is survived by his daughter Leslie A. Verrier and her husband William of Byfield, MA; son John Christopher Tredinnick and his wife DiAnna of Sarasota, Florida; sister Cecily W.T. Meehan of Bellingham, WA; brother-in-law Robert W. Hicks, USAF Lt.Col. retired and his wife Sue Ann Olsavicky, USAF Col, retired of Goodyear, Arizona; grandsons David W. Verrier and his wife Anastacia and their children Alexandra and Lucas of Byfield; Dr. Jonathan D. Verrier and his wife Megan of Laguna Niguel, CA; nephews Frank Alexander Tredinnick and his wife Susan of St. Augustine, FL and John H. Tredinnick and his wife Sunant of Salem, MA; nieces Mary Louise, Ellen, and Catherine, daughters of his late sister Barbara E. McIvain of NJ.
He was also predeceased by his wife Ann G. (Hicks) Tredinnick in 1995, his brother Frank A. (Sandy) Tredinnick in 2017, and a son Robert Jonathan Tredinnick in 1962.
Visiting hours will be held Monday, December 12 from 4-7 p.m. at McDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Ave., Wakefield. Burial service at Lakeside Cemetery will be private for the family.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of John B. Tredinnick may be made to Lucius Beebe Library Book Fund, Wakefield, First Parish Congregational Church, or charity of the donor’s choosing.
