John Turner Samuelson

John Turner Samuelson, age 95, passed away in Bourne, MA on February 7, 2013. A fearless innovator, he was a man of many interests and talents. Born and raised in Hull, he was a student of the trumpet from an early age thanks to the encouragement of a grammar school teacher who was putting together a school orchestra. He and his brother Howard, who played the trombone, performed at churches and schools in the area.

John graduated from Hingham High School in 1934 and received his Bachelor's Degree from the B.U. College of Music in 1939 and his Master of Education in 1940. He also held a Trinity College Licentiate in Music. During his college years he served as director of the Boston Brass Choir, wrote arrangements for various instrumental and choral groups, and played first trumpet in the B.U. Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. Also, this is where he met his wife Jean.

Supervisor of Music from 1940-42 in the Scituate Schools , John joined the faculty of Hingham High School in 1943, serving as math and science teacher, driver education instructor, and conductor of the school's musical organizations. During WW II he patrolled the beaches of Hull and Scituate as a civilian observer.

In 1946, he helped to assemble 40 amateur musicians to form the Hingham Civic Orchestra (now the Atlantic Symphony), with himself as conductor and his wife Jean playing violin. The group was invited to play at the Esplanade in the mid 1940s, attended by several thousand. In addition to concerts held at the high school auditorium, another tradition was the annual pops concert at Dreamwold Inn in Scituate with decorated tables and refreshments served. John was also the organist and choir director for 21 years at Hingham's Second Parish Church.

In 1957, he rescued a large theater organ from a movie house in Norwood, restored it, and transplanted it to his house on Elm Street, with pipes filling the cellar and the console in the living room. It came with percussion instruments such as xylophone, chimes, cymbals, blocks, drums, even a tom-tom. Friends would come to the house and sing familiar standards around the organ as he played. "Tea for Two" was a popular example. During the holidays church carolers came to sing, and John would fire up the organ to accompany them. He would play for anyone who wanted to hear the music, which could be very loud, but the neighbors never complained.

John converted an old Flexible passenger bus into a camper in 1961 and took the family camping in the summer. Introducing themselves as "the other bus nuts" when they encountered Bob and Jean Richter who had similarly converted the same model, they were soon working together to find and organize other folks with camper conversions. Twenty-five families were invited to a Hinckley, Maine hilltop with no campground amenities to view the solar eclipse of July 20, 1963. There they drafted and finalized the Family Motor Coach Association constitution and bylaws, ratified the following December. They put out a magazine in 1964, and by spring the next year had 1000 members from all contiguous states and Canada. The world's largest motor home organization, FMCA today has approximately 850,000 registrants.

Having learned carpentry from his father, John could build or repair almost anything. In the 40s, he built a detailed scale model of a Cape Cod house complete with fireplace and mantel in three large sections, which took up the better part of a room. He made furniture to fit, some of it upholstered by his mother. Much later, he reclaimed wood from soon-to-be demolished structures at the old ammunition depot, which is now Bear Cove Park, and fashioned cabinets, tables, shelves, and tool boxes.

From 1966 to 1980 John worked part time for the Town of Hingham as Chief of Special Police but also remained with Hingham schools and Scituate schools as teacher and substitute teacher until retirement in 1980. But "retired" was not the right word to describe John. He went on to a stint as security officer for Wackenhut in Sarasota, FL where Jean and John lived for another 20 years, traveling north in their latest RV - FMCA plate #19 firmly attached - to spend summers in Hingham or on Cape Cod.

Preceded in death by his wife of 63 years Jean M. (Anderson) Samuelson, by his parents Alger and Ethel (Turner) Samuelson, and by his brother Howard, John is survived by three daughters: Janet (Donald) Kowalsky of Hiawassee, GA; Judy (Peter) Spinney of Newton, NJ; and Joanne (Robert) Chandler of E. Wareham. Two nephews, Casey and John Samuelson II live in Georgia. Grandchildren are Heidi (Spinney) Levine of Roseland, New Jersey, Todd Spinney of Leominster, Petty Officer Mark Spinney, stationed in Norfolk, VA, Sara (Kowalsky) Ferguson of Winchester, David Kowalsky of Asheville, NC, Petty Officer Jim Colley stationed San Diego, CA, and Marianne Colley of Sandwich. John leaves five great-grandchildren. Many of his offspring have inherited his love of and talent for music.

Donations in John's memory may be made to the South Shore Conservatory, Development Office, One Conservatory Drive, Hingham, MA 02043.

A celebration of John's life featuring organ music is being planned for 4pm May 27 at the Second Parish Church in Hingham. Please contact Janet Kowalsky if you would like notice of the event: jkowalsky @aol.com. 2423 Ridgeway Dr., Hiawassee, GA 30546. 706-896-4612.