John R. Pepper Sr., 75, of Chester, NH, died Wednesday, January 7, 2015 in the Catholic Medical Center, Manchester, NH surrounded by his loving family. He was born in Brockton, MA on September 15, 1939, a son of the late Samuel and Johanna (Crichton) Pepper. He had been a resident of Chester since 1968, formerly living in Pembroke, MA. John was the owner of J. R. Pepper Electric, Inc. in Chester since 1972. He served as a volunteer firefighter in Chester for many years. John has been a member of Gideons International since 1981, a past member of the Chester Lions Club and the Fortnightly Club. Besides his involvement with the Gideons, he was a member of the Chester Historical Society as well as a member of the NH Giant Pumpkin Growers Association, trying wholeheartedly the past four years for a “giant” pumpkin. His prize this year was a 400 pounder. Each winter John looked forward to getting his seed catalogs in the mail and planning his vegetable garden for the summer, as well as planting giant sunflowers. John attended Calvary Bible Church in Derry.
He is survived by his wife, Judith (Spiller) Lofaso Pepper of Chester; two sons, John R. Pepper Jr. and his wife Lorree of Chester, and Donald A. Pepper and his wife Kathleen of Deering, NH; two daughters, Deborah J Smith and her husband Edward of Raymond, NH, and Deanna L. Cross of Manchester; his stepson, Paul Lofaso of Derry; his stepdaughter, Valerie Roy, and stepgranddaughter, Juliana, of Portsmouth; one brother, David Pepper of Windham; his sister, Margaret Pepper of Derry; 13 grandchildren; six great grandchildren; his mother in law, Lillian Brown of Florida; sisters-in-law, Beverly Nicholson, (husband Doug), of FL and Priscilla (husband Jerry Coughlin) of GA, and brother-in- law Bernard Brown (wife Shirley) of MA; as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins. He was predeceased by his wife Janet Pepper in 1998 and a son, Dennis Pepper in 2009.
Calling hours were held on Tuesday, January 13th from 4 – 8pm in the Peabody Funeral Homes and Crematorium, 15 Birch St., Derry. Funeral services were held on Wednesday at 11:00am in the Calvary Bible Church, Hampstead Road, Derry. Burial will be in the spring in Great Hill Cemetery, Chester. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made in John’s memory to Gideon’s International, 5 Westerly Drive, Derry, NH 03038, or the American Breast Cancer Foundation, 1220 B East Joppa Road, Suite 332, Towson, Maryland 21286, or a charity of one’s choice.