John Edward Meehan

John was born on July 3, 1934, to the late Sarah and John Meehan in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He was the eldest of the three Meehan sons and was predeceased by younger brothers Robert Meehan and Thomas Meehan. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1953 and studied business administration at Seton Hall University.

He was industrious from an early age, and held jobs including mattress factory worker, gas station attendant, and lifeguard. He discovered his true passion for aviation related business when he started working for New York Airways. In the aftermath of the Korean War, he served in the United States Army from 1957-1959 and was stationed in Germany.

On November 7, 1963, John married Janet Morkis at St. Peter and St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey. As lifelong lovers of the beach, Janet and John raised their four children, Maureen, MaryBeth, Laurie and Sean, in Point Pleasant, New Jersey and Boca Raton, Florida. John was predeceased by his beloved wife Janet, who died from Alzheimer’s disease on February 3, 2021.

John enjoyed a lengthy career in aviation related business ventures, primarily with Pan American World Services. Highlights of his career included managing the 60th Street Heliport in New York City for many years and coordinating the aviation plan for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. During the 1990s, he used his aviation knowledge abroad for the Hong Kong Airport Authority, in support of the construction and operation of the new Hong Kong International Airport, and on the Athens International Airport, which was built in preparation for the 2004 Olympic Games. John also held aviation related positions in Dallas, Texas, and in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Janet accompanied John on all these adventures and they both enjoyed living abroad.

John enjoyed being a member of the Wings Club in New York, the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong, and the Chartered Institute of Transport in Hong Kong.

Following his retirement from the aviation world, John and Janet decided to go back to beach living and moved to Pawleys Island, South Carolina. John dabbled in real estate sales during their time in Pawleys Island and was appointed as a member of the Georgetown County South Carolina airport commission. In 2013, John and Janet moved to Lake Worth, Florida to be closer to family.

Surviving are his daughter and son-in-law Maureen and Steve Bergeman of Leawood, Kansas, daughter and son-in-law MaryBeth and Scott Burton of Lake Worth, Florida, daughter and son-in-law Laurie Meehan and Todd Burich of New York, New York, and son Sean Meehan of Arcata, California. He was a loving grandfather to Madeline, Shane, Aidan, Luke and Zachary Bergeman, Taylor Garcia, and Christopher and Megan Burich. He was delighted to be a great grandfather to Isabella Garcia.

He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Francine Delfino of Roselle, New Jersey, his cousin Jack Genz of New Jersey and many nieces and nephews as well as special friends from Brookdale West Boynton Beach.

John will be interred at the South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth, Florida at a future date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Delaney Marchant Memorial Foundation, /https://www.delaneymarchantmemorialfoundation.org/