One of thirteen children born to Edgar and Marion (Smart) Madden, his parents welcomed their son into the world on October 7, 1924, in Olamon, Maine. John attended Lee Academy, and when he became a teenager, worked in the summers with his dad at a lumberjack camp, where he worked as a scaler to measure logs and helped the camp cook to make the daily bean hole beans. When John was sixteen, the family packed up a truck and moved to Keene, NH where he landed a job with Markem Corporation. There, he became a skilled, free-hand machinist and eventually a line manager of the machine shop, working for the company for over forty years. John also served in the NH State Guard during WW2.
A resident of Keene since 1941, John was an active member of his community. He served on the Board of Directors, as Sr. Director, and President of the Cheshire County YMCA, an organization that found a special place in his heart. Through the YMCA he became an active member of Camp Takodah, working on numerous committees, including the Elwell Chapel, and fundraising for the new Dining Hall. He became Chief of the Penacook Nation of Cheshire County YMCA Indian Guides, once traveling with the group to the National Convention. His children and grandchildren attended Camp Takodah.
He also served on the Board of Directors of the Cheshire County Shooting Sport and Education Foundation, was past president of the Industrial Management Club (IMC), a past president of the Old Homestead Association, and was a Deacon at the United Church of Christ, serving on many committees over the years.
John was an avid outdoorsman, developing special memories with family and friends hunting and fishing, as well as spending family time year-round at their Camp on Center Pond in Stoddard. He loved to travel in his RV, taking fishing trips to NH, Maine, The Great Lakes, NY, and Lake Albanel in Quebec, as well as vacation trips to the Midwest and up and down the East Coast. John and Evelyn, with a group of close friends, created a social group called “The Rye Pond Association,” where they enjoyed friendship and gatherings filled with “shenanigans.”
He was also an avid trap shooter and traveled with the Indian Guides to shooting competitions and loved going to flea markets and yard sales where he collected antiques, especially tools and bean pots. John was famous for his "bean-hole" beans and once was featured in an edition of Yankee Magazine (https://newengland.com/today/food/side-dishes/baked-beans/bean-hole-baked-beans/). In 1950, John and Evelyn along with five couples put on the first Clambake at their home in Swanzey. In subsequent years, they hosted this event at their camp in Stoddard. Held each Labor Day weekend for the past 71 years, friends and family come from all over to enjoy this weekend of fun where they participate in putting on this unique event. Their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, relatives, and friends continue this annual tradition.
John was pre-deceased by his wife of 63 years, Evelyn (Parker) on June 4, 2012, and will be greatly missed by many, especially his children, Timothy W. Madden and his wife Suzanne, of Livermore, ME; Daniel T. Madden, of Keene; Rebecca M. Treat and her husband Timothy, of Hooksett, NH; his grandchildren, Richard Madden and his fiancé Kelly Wiren, Ashley Stevenson and her husband Tom, Parker Madden and his wife Megan, Christopher Treat and his wife Nicole, Gregory Treat and his wife Tayler, and Jennifer Presutti and her husband Gregory. His great-grandchildren Miles, Hadley, Hannah, Ford, Lucas, Victoria, Sage, Alyvia, Penelope, Timothy, Cody, and Andrew. A brother, Owen Madden of Keene; sisters, Glenda Henderson of Keene, Janice Parker, and Judith Avery, both of East Swanzey, NH; many nieces, nephews, and extended family members.
A funeral service will be held on Friday, January 21, 2022, at 11:00am at the United Church of Christ, 23 Central Square, Keene, NH. Burial will follow in the West Cemetery, Bradford Road, Keene, and afterwards guests are invited to attend a luncheon reception at the First Congregational Church, 679 Old Homestead Hwy, Swanzey, NH. Family and friends are also invited to call on Thursday evening from 6:00 to 8:00pm at the Foley Funeral Home, 49 Court Street, Keene. All those in attendance at the funeral service and calling hours are required to wear facemasks and to maintain the physical distancing protocols.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of John Madden to Camp Takodah in Richmond, NH via their website at https://www.camptakodah.org/donate/ or via mail at Takodah YMCA, 32 Lake St, N. Swanzey, NH 03431.
