John Lane

John Lane Jr., 79, beloved husband, father, and grandfather passed away at Lahey Hospital on Saturday, April 25, 2020, after a brief illness with Covid-19, and a lengthy, courageous battle with Parkinson's Disease.

John was born on June 8, 1940, in Salem, MA, and was raised in Peabody. He was the son of the late Mary (Carty) Lane and John Lane Sr. He graduated from St. Mary's High School in Lynn and proudly joined the United States Army thereafter. Following his years of service, John graduated from Salem State University, where he loved to remind his family that he had the highest GPA in his class, and also from Boston University School of Law. John was a faithful communicant of St. Joseph's Parish, where he served many years on the Board of Finance.

John spent the earlier years of his career as a Certified Public Accountant at Touche-Ross. He also proudly served on Governor King's Management Task Force where he received awards of acknowledgement for his service. John then went on to be a bold and fearless corporate lawyer, working for such prestigious companies as Chomerics and W.R. Grace. He also went on to work tirelessly for the Boston Acquisition Group where he bought and sold companies. Of all of his career accomplishments, John was most proud of the years he spent as owner and CEO of Sports Images Inc. There, he spent many years working alongside his best friends, his sons Matt and Jeff, as they worked together to build the largest, most successful sports distribution company in the nation. When he was not working, John enjoyed doing the taxes of all his friends and family, most notably Jane Curtin from Saturday Night Live, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox and Bozo the Clown.

In addition to his chosen career, John took an active role in coaching his sons' basketball teams in their youth. Many a story could be told by his sons' friends about what a positive role model he was. A gentleman through and through, John loved to engage in conversation with others and loved to ask many, many questions. He always made everyone feel as if they were the most important person in the world to him. John was the guy everyone called when they needed a helping hand. He had a knack for getting things done, and for rallying others to join him in his causes. John believed strongly in the value of a good education, and he made sure to impart this knowledge to his children and granddaughter. John was an avid Boston Sports fan and held season tickets to all four Boston sports teams. He also loved Big East Basketball and looked forward to his yearly pilgrimage to New York City to watch the tournament. Even as it became more difficult in recent years, John made every effort to attend his granddaughter, Abigail's, sports competitions. He would beam with pride watching her swim and would love to recount each race stroke by stroke. Aside from Abby, no player would ever match John's favorites: Ted Williams, Bill Russell, Bobby Orr, and Jim Brown. John also had a passion for his racehorses and looked forward to watching them race each summer in Saratoga or at Suffolk Downs. John loved to travel to Nantucket and adored all things Irish. Of all the things he loved the most, though, was his family, especially his granddaughter, Abby, with whom he shared an incredibly special bond.

John is survived by his loving wife Anita (Savani) Lane , with whom he shared 48 beautiful years of marriage. John leaves behind two sons, Matthew Lane and his wife Heather, and their daughter Abigail of Wakefield, and Jeffrey Lane , his wife Josephine and their niece Illeanna Green of Medford. John treasured his sons with all his heart and treated his daughters in law as if they were his own. John will also be sorely missed by all that knew him.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, a memorial service to honor John's life will be held in the future.

The family would like to thank the wonderful staff of the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Bedford and also the Dutton Senior Center in Wakefield who took care of John in his final illness. Donations in John's name would gratefully be accepted at Parkinson's Fitness, C/O Linda and Keith Hall, 46 Britannia Circle, Salem MA 01970-6849.