John A. MacGruer Jr.

06/30/2005

John A. MacGruer Jr., 87, of Fairview Commons died Thursday of pneumonia at Fairview Hospital. He was a former Pittsfield lawyer. Born in Glen Ridge, N.J., on Dec. 24, 1917, son of John A. MacGruer Sr. and Lois Stevens MacGruer, he attended Albany (N.Y.) Academy and was a 1935 graduate of Deerfield Academy. He was a 1939 graduate of Williams College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Zeta Psi fraternities. He received his bachelor of laws degree cum laude from Yale Law School and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1942. In the summer of 1942, he received a leave of absence from the firm of Root, Balentine, Harlan, Bushby and Palmer in New York City to enter the service. He served in the Army Counterintelligence Corps as a first lieutenant until January 1946, two years of that time in the European theater, and worked for the prosecution staff of the Inter-Allied tribunal in Italy on the trials of enemy agents. After the service, Mr. MacGruer returned to the law firm, then moved to Pittsfield in 1948 to form a law partnership with Francis de Lancey Cunningham. He retired in 1976. He was a member of First Church of Christ, Congregational, in Pittsfield, and of several men's organizations, and a past member of the Country Club of Pittsfield. He also served on the Zoning Board of Appeals. He leaves three sons, John A. MacGruer III of Great Barrington, Frank L.S. MacGruer of Austerlitz, N.Y., and Andrew F.T. MacGruer of Bayfield, Colo., and a brother, Malcolm S. MacGruer of Madison, Conn. He was predeceased by his former wife, Jane Tracy, whom he married Dec. 27, 1941. FUNERAL NOTICE -- There will be no calling hours or service. At Mr. MacGruer's request, his body was donated to Albany Medical Center for anatomical research. Burial of his cremains will be at a later date in Cedar Park Cemetery in Hudson, N.Y. WELLINGTON FUNERAL HOME in Pittsfield is in charge of arrangements. If friends desire, donations in his memory may be made to the Relief Fund, VFW Post 448, 36 Linden St., Pittsfield, MA 01201.

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