John Joseph Carey Jr.

John J. Carey, Jr., died at home on April 24, 2023, surrounded by his wife, Mary, son Michael, and daughter, Annamarie. John’s beloved Shih Tzu companion, Amber, was also beside him. Pulmonary fibrosis cut short his full and happy life. John died deeply grateful for the medical and nursing care he received. Physician Joseph Barker of Linville, NC, was the first to diagnose and treat John and guide him to hospice care. A team at Transitions LifeCare-Hospice cared for him after John and Mary relocated to Cary, NC, to be close to family.

John was born on October 31, 1938, in Ancon, Panama Canal Zone, to parents John J. Carey, Sr., and Grace Dorothy Jones. His father, an electrical engineer, was employed at the Panama Canal. He met and married Grace, whose large family lived and worked in the Canal Zone. John and a sister, Sharon Patricia, were born there. His sister, Karen Frances, was born in the States. In October 2022, John celebrated his 84th birthday. Now at Peace, John is reunited with his parents, sisters, other beloved families, and friends, especially Donald and Tina Pierpont.

John was a devoted University of Michigan sports and Detroit Tigers fan. A Saint Thomas High School graduate in Ann Arbor, John met Mary Camp, the love of his life and wife of 62 years. They married on June 17, 1961. He earned an undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University and an MBA from the University of Indiana. John and Mary moved their family to Ohio, New Jersey, and Chicago as John built a sales and entrepreneur career. Each move expanded their circle of friends.

Together John and Mary built a close-knit family of three daughters, Mina, Annamarie, Molly, and a son Michael. Their family life was blessed later by sons-in-law Carlos Rodriguez, David York, and Gary Smith, daughter-in-law Lori (Jessup), eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Their large extended family shared John’s love of all U of M sports and the Detroit Tigers. John enjoyed many football games at The Big House or on TV in the company of in-laws Marti and David Satwicz, their three sons, Dan, Tom, and Brian, and John’s nephew and niece, Matt Hall and Eliza Hall.

John is now in a place where the Michigan Wolverines will always win. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Transitions LifeCare-Hospice at 250 Hospice Cir, Raleigh, Nc 27607