June 9, 2012  

BRANTINGHAM, N.Y.  —  John Patrick McGrath, 42, made it home with help of Lewis County Hospice and the Croghan Ambulance. He died Friday, June 8, at his family homestead on the B Arthur Road, Lowville, with his family and friends at his side. John had been battling cancer.

Born July 12, 1969, in Watertown, the son of Patrick M. and Ann M. Dauksza McGrath, he graduated from Lowville Academy Central School where he played on the Section III Championship football team and was a Frontier League wrestling champion.

He married Julie Doney Brown on April 23, 2008, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with Linda Gerrald officiating. 

John worked in the family business, McGrath’s Electric, Lowville.

John was a communicant of St. Peter’s Catholic Church where he attended elementary school.

He was a member of the Lowville Lodge #1605 B.P.O.E. and Brantingham Golf Course, where he recently golfed in the Lowville Fire Department’s tournament.

He was a diehard New York Yankees fan, loved Syracuse basketball, Notre Dame football, Buffalo Bills, enjoyed NASCAR and his favorite driver Mark Martin. 

John bowled in several leagues at Lewis Lanes and was an avid golfer and hunter.

Surviving are his wife, Julie, Brantingham; a daughter, Morgan McGrath, Lowville; a step son, Tyler C. Brown, Syracuse; a step daughter, Tiffany M. Brown, Lowville; his father and his wife, Patrick and Jean McGrath, Lowville; his mother and her husband, Ann and Wayne Haggerty, Conover, N.C.; his grandmother, Dorothy M. Gardner, Martinsburg; three brothers and his sister and their spouses, Mike and Cheri McGrath, Martinsburg, Thomas and Kristy McGrath, Lowville, Valerie McGrath Proulx and Steve Proulx, Croghan, and Brian McGrath and Mark Gardner, New York City; his step brother and step sister and their spouses, Thomas and Kim Rhubart of Martinsburg; Laura and Jim Kiefer of Croghan; his first wife, Victoria Tabolt, Lowville; aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

A son, Tyler John “TJ” McGrath, died July 22, 2002.

A funeral Mass will be said 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 13, at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Lowville, with Rev. Christopher Carrara, pastor, officiating. John will be laid to rest next to his son at Lowville Rural Cemetery.

Family and friends may call 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, at Sundquist Funeral Home.

John’s Family suggest memorials be made to: Friends of Lewis County Hospice, P.O. Box 266, Lowville, NY 13367 or 2012 Relay for Life for Lewis County, N.Y.

Condolences may be made on the online guest book at www.sundquistfh.com.







Information provided by Sundquist Funeral Home of Lowville and Newzjunky, Watertown, N.Y.