On May 9, 2019 John Hartnett passed away peacefully with family by his side. He was predeceased by his wife of 51 years, LoVilla “Lee” in October 2005 and a grandson, Nikolas, in August 2018. He is survived by his three children Tom (Sheila), David (Cara), and Colleen (Ted); his nieces Alison (Jim) and April, his nephews Dean (Carrie) and Jimmy; six grandchildren, Tommy, Christian (Kara), Colin (Kelly), Cameron, Cole, and Amanda; his God-daughter Janet (Jeff); and extended family members and wonderful friends from every stage in his life.
John Michael Hartnett was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. After marrying LoVilla in June 1954, they took Route 66 West the following year to Coronado. Eventually, most of John’s and LoVilla’s family moved West to Coronado, San Diego, and Los Angeles.
During his life, John served in the United States Marines from 1945-1949 in Illinois and in California, worked as a Security Guard, Private Detective (where he met LoVilla) in Chicago, and Military Police on North Island. In 1957, John started working for Coronado Federal Savings and Loan, (which later became Home Federal Savings and Loan) and retired in 1984. During this time, he met and mentored many people who he considered to be his “kids”, and with whom he kept in touch to the very end. In 1957, he also joined the 20/30 men’s service club in which he and LoVilla made life-long friends and “family”.
In 1959, and for the next 25 years, John served as the Coronado 4th of July Parade Coordinator and for many years was an active member of Coronado Rotary, Coronado Little League, Coronado Pop Warner, and was active in Coronado Roundtable, the Coronado Senior Association, and the Unconcerned Citizens lunch group, which has been meeting on Mondays since 1959. He also served on the Coronado Hospital Foundation Board of Directors and Executive Committee.
John and LoVilla were known for having a home where all their kids and their friends wanted to hang out, eat, have pool parties, and find refuge. The Hartnett house was famous for the annual 4th of July pool party and the great/strong daiquiris that John made for the event. He was generally a quiet man, but he was kind and garnered respect from everyone who met him.
John worked to put all three of his children through San Diego State University and proudly displayed his SDSU Aztec pride. John was a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and was able to witness their glorious World Series Win in 2016. John was a proud season ticket holder for the San Diego Chargers for over 50 years, spending most home game Sundays at Jack Murphy/Qualcomm Stadium. For about 20 years during this same time, he also spent Saturday nights there watching the San Diego State Aztecs play football.
On his 90th birthday in 2017, he was honored with a City proclamation of “John Michael Hartnett Day” followed by a huge birthday celebration with family and friends.
John was a proud United States Marine to the very end. His wishes were not to have a service to mourn his passing, but rather to have you thank an active duty service member or Veteran for their service. Semper Fi.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.humphreymortuary.com for the HARTNETT family.
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