John J. Hart, 57, of Millward Rd., died Saturday, May 29th, in the Meadows of Leicester, after a long illness.

    He leaves his wife of 7 years, Linda M. (Ledoux) Hart; two sons, Sean J. Hart of Fairhaven and Timothy R. Hart of Bar Harbor, ME; a daughter, Meghan May Hart of Bayonne, NJ; his mother, Dorothy K. (Kowalski) Hart of Webster; a stepdaughter, Laura Grace Poulin of Charlton; two sisters, Margaret Hart-Banach of Newington, CT and Doreen Brisendine of Muscle Shoals, AL; his former wife, Patricia May of Sturbridge; and five nieces and nephews, Christopher Banach, Paul Banach, Grace Banach, Jordan Brisendine and Benjamin Brisendine.

    He was born in Hartford, CT the son of the late John J. Hart, II. He was a 1970 graduate of South Catholic High School in Hartford where he was an all-state Middle Linebacker on the football team. He was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School for Business and also played football for Penn.

    John had a long dedicated career in public safety. He began his career as a police officer for the City of Philadelphia, PA and was later the Director of Public Safety for the Philadelphia Spectrum from which he was brought to Worcester to be the Director of Public Safety for the Centrum in the early 1980's. He became a Sturbridge Police Officer shortly after, serving for over 20 years. During his time with the Sturbridge Police he was the Director of Public Safety for Harrington Memorial Hospital in Southbridge for 15 years. In conjunction with Harrington Hospital he was the Director of the Tri-Epic Emergency Preparedness Committee and was very involved with the Molly Bish Fingerprinting Program. John received many awards for his work in public safety, and most recently he was honored by the Tri-Community Exchange Club. He was also a former Chairman of the Board of Selectmen for the Town of Sturbridge. Along with his career in Public Safety, John also operated his own property appraisal company.

    His funeral will be held on Friday, June 4th, from the Daniel T. Morrill Funeral Home, 130 Hamilton St., Southbridge, with a Mass at 10:00 a.m. in Notre Dame Church, 446 Main St., Southbridge. Burial will follow in the Worcester County Memorial Park, Paxton. Calling hours in the funeral Home will be held on Thursday, June 3rd, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.

    In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sturbridge Police Association, c/o the Youth Program, 346 Main St., Sturbridge, MA 01566 or to the Cancer Center at Harrington, 100 South St., Southbridge, MA 01550.