John D. “Jack” Drummey, 81, passed away on May 20th, 2007 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Boston. He was born on January 27th, 1926 in Brighton and was raised in the Moss Hill section of Jamaica Plain. He is a 1944 graduate of Boston Latin High School. After graduation, Jack enlisted in the Navy. He served in the Naval and Marine Amphibious forces in the Pacific during World War II. He was honorably discharged on August 11th, 1945 as a decorated disabled veteran. He is also a retired Lt. Colonel of the Massachusetts State Guard and was a military aide to Governor King and Governor Sargent.
After the war, Mr. Drummey attended Holy Cross College on the G.I. Bill. He was editor of all three campus publications and was also an undefeated member of the debate team. He completed his degree in 3 years by attending classes at Boston College during the summer months. He graduated in 1949.
After graduation he began a career in advertising and public relations. His work included the following firms: General Electric; The National Conference of Christians and Jews; and Associated Industries of Massachusetts. He was also the Creative Director for the deGarmo-Boston Ad Agency and a former assistant to the city manager in Cambridge. In 1963 he founded BOSTON magazine for Cahners Publishing as an executive. He served as acting publisher and wrote the column “The Observant Bostonian”. He was also a Talk Show Host on WMEX Radio for a brief period of time.
Mr. Drummey was also an accomplished cartoonist. He devoted his full time to working on cartoons and caricatures in 1981. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, Boston College Magazine, Entertainment Digest, Performer and several other publications. He has illustrated 6 books and has his own collection of works called “Drums Along the Mystic”. Mr. Drummey was the Chairman of the Caricaturists Collaborative, an eight member panel of professional caricaturists. The collaborative holds membership in the Greater Boston Convention and Tourist Bureau.
1n 1992, Jack authored a book called “Dry Run; Letters on Solo Alcoholic Recovery” which includes a foreword by Senator John Kerry.
He is survived by his wife Carol of Medford; his daughter Dianne Marino of New York City; his son William W. Drummey II of Somerville; and his grandson Mitchell Drummey. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Christine Michalski of Fairfield,CT; his niece Marybeth Belczyk of Erie, PA; his niece Bridget Sharrock of Fairfield, CT, his nephew Mark Michalski of Quincy and several grandnieces and grandnephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Immaculate Conception Church, 600 Pleasant St., Malden at Thursday May 24th at 9 AM followed by interment in the National Cemetery, Bourne, MA at 2:15 PM. Relatives & friends are invited to attend. Visiting hours will be held at the funeral home on Wednesday May 23rd from 4-8 PM.