GILFORD ---- John Paul Sepe of Gilford, NH, passed away on Friday, May 27, 2022, at Concord Hospital - Laconia, closing an eleven-month struggle to recover from injuries sustained in a fall.
He was born on December 9, 1929, in Cranston, RI, to Pauline and Pasquale (“Pat”) Sepe, and had two younger brothers, James and William. As a child, he enjoyed hockey, baseball, fishing, and woodworking, and dreamed of sailing; as a teen, he meticulously built his own wooden boat in his backyard.
He graduated from Cranston High School in 1947, and from RISD in 1951 with a degree in Machine Design. His first job was with the aircraft manufacturer Curtiss-Wright in Paterson, NJ, and he continued in the aviation industry, including several years at Sikorsky in Stratford, CT. Later, at the American Machine and Foundry Company in Greenwich, CT, he designed launch systems for the Titan ICBM.
During the 1950s, he owned and raced sports cars, including a Nash-Healey, an MC-TD, and a Morgan Plus Four, and became an avid skier. In 1959, on an AMF ski trip in Vermont, he met Martha Numme of Port Chester, NY, whom he married on May 14, 1960. Together, they raised three children, Paul, Jeanne, and Nancy.
Later in the 1960s, he worked at General Time, helping develop the first quartz clocks for the consumer market. In 1969, he moved with his family to Cape Cod to work in oceanography and bought his first sailboat, a Sailstar Corinthian.
When the Engineers’ Recession of the early 1970s hit, he moved to Redding, Connecticut, where he lived for the remainder of his working life. He designed high-speed automated equipment for manufacturing surgical sutures for American Cyanamid, and ultrasonic welding equipment for Branson Sonic Power, before joining Product Design Services and finally Sony, where he helped develop early high-speed compact disc presses. During these years, he continued sailing, thoroughly remodeled his home, and, recognizing his love for art and design, began to build furniture in the garage.
After retiring in 1997, John and Martha moved to New Hampshire, where Paul and Jeanne had settled and Nancy would soon follow. In Gilford, near Lake Winnipesaukee, they found another house to remodel - this one with a suitable workshop - and he found the time to refine and develop his furniture and fine craft. Always meticulous, he used Arts & Crafts and Japanese design elements to create beautiful, functional pieces for his family and friends, as well as details for his home.
In June 2021, as he was putting the awning on a pergola he’d built, he fell from a ladder and was seriously injured, particularly to his spine. Initially paralyzed, he worked and fought and managed to be back home for Thanksgiving, his birthday, and Christmas, and continued to improve through the winter. However, in April he was struck with a serious infection, and he never made it home again.
He is survived by his wife Martha, his brothers James (Joan) and William (Jimena Lasansky) and their families, his son Paul and daughters Jeanne Macintyre (Scott) and Nancy Sepe, and granddaughter Callie Macintyre.
A devout traditional Catholic, he was honored with a magnificent Latin High Requiem Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Laconia, New Hampshire, and his ashes were committed to the seafloor off Newport, Rhode Island.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services and 603Cremations.com, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, NH, is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial, please visit www.wilkinsonbeane.com.