John “Jack” E. Hempel, a man of infinite wisdom and honor, who loved his wife and daughters and life on Cape Cod, died April 26, 2025, of complications from a long illness. He was 85.
Born in Marlborough to Mary “Molly” Légere and Carl “Chick” Hempel, Jack grew up in Fayville, a village of Southborough, on Learned Street with his best friends Billy Gray and Olivio Minnucci always by his side. He attended Margaret Neary School, Peter’s Annex, and Peters High School a year ahead of his future wife, Bonita “Bonnie” Urbinati. He and she grew up together and were lifelong, inseparable companions.
Jack worked on farms as a boy and then learned how to be a lineman at his father’s elbow. He married Bonnie in 1961 at St. Anne Church in Southborough and quickly rose through the ranks to become a young foreman for Massachusetts Electric Co., later National Grid, where he worked for many years as a superintendent out of the Leominster facility. He also served as a National Guardsman and a reserve police officer for the town of Southborough, where he was a longtime member of the “Fayville Athletic Association” or just “The Club,” as it was called by the men around town. He retired at 59 to travel and enjoy his home on Cape Cod full time.
Jack, known to his oldest friends as “Jackie,” loved to hunt and fish and held the record for largest fish caught in 1969 (15 inches) in Massachusetts fresh water. He was a wonderful cook, which he learned from his father-in-law, Arnold “Lefty” Urbinati, from whom he also learned how to make cherry rum. He loved Bobby Orr’s 1970 Boston Bruins, his mother’s homemade blueberry pie, and his pinstriped red truck. He was a terrific storyteller and could tell a joke that would leave his audience in stitches.
Jack loved music – John Denver, Willie Nelson, Frank Sinatra. He used to sing Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman,” even the high notes, as he worked in his beautiful vegetable garden in Lancaster, where he and Bonnie raised their two girls.
He was devoted to his daughters, Donna and Carlene. He taught them everything they knew about how to take care of their homes, yards, and vehicles. He was a problem-solver and an innovator, and a quick phone call to him would bring a solution to any problem they presented.
He is survived by his wife, Bonnie Hempel of Dennis; his daughter Donna Hempel of Madison, New Hampshire; his daughter Carlene Hempel, son-in-law Geoff Edgers, and grandchildren Lila and Calvin Hempel-Edgers, all of Concord; and his sister Suzanne Moore, of Southborough; as well as three nieces and several cousins.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 1, at St. Anne Church, 20 Boston Road, Southborough, MA 01772 followed by burial at Southborough Rural Cemetery, 11 Cordaville Road, Southborough, MA.
To honor Jack, ever the outdoorsman, the family requests instead of flowers, please consider sending a small donation in his name to MassWildlife Wildlands Fund (https://www.mass.gov/info-details/wildlands-fund).
(Photo and Obituary via Morris-Johnston Funeral Home)
