John Richard “Jack” LaFountaine III

John Richard “Jack” LaFountaine III, 81, of Leesville Lake, died Sunday, February 18, 2018 in Union Hospital at Dover following a brief period of declining health.

A son of the late John R. LaFountaine Jr. and the late F. Maxine (Wilson) LaFountaine, Jack was born October 14, 1936 at New Philadelphia, Ohio.

Jack graduated from New Philadelphia High School in 1954. He then continued his education at Denison University at Granville, Ohio before graduating in 1958 from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Philosophy.

On March 23, 1958, Jack married the love of his life, the former Connie Cronebaugh. The couple shared 45 years of marriage prior to Connie’s passing on January 12, 2004.

Jack started his professional career in the family business, LaFountaine’s Variety Store at New Philadelphia. He then founded Dimension Distributing, Inc, a toy distributing company, and served as the owner and operator with Connie. Following his retirement, Jack took a position with Goshen Dairy and served as Director of Marketing for nearly ten years.

He was a member of the New Philadelphia Elks Lodge #510 and was a gifted pianist who especially enjoyed playing ragtime music. Jack enjoyed his home on Leesville Lake and found great joy boating on his pontoon and fishing. He will be remembered most by family and friends for his gift of entertaining and storytelling and his ability to turn even an ordinary story into a humorous affair.

He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Michelle and Kelly Watson of New Philadelphia; a son, Jack LaFountaine of North Carolina; two grandsons, Christopher (Brook) Watson and Matthew (Allison) Watson both of Dublin, Ohio; two sisters, Mary Mann of Portsmouth and Patricia Barnes of New Philadelphia and numerous nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews.

Jack was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Connie and an infant daughter, Marci.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, February 21, 2018 from 10 to 11 a.m. in the Linn-Hert-Geib Funeral Home & Crematory at New Philadelphia. A funeral service celebrating Jack’s life will follow at 11 a.m. in the funeral home with his nephew, Wade Coffey officiating. Burial, alongside Connie and Marci, will follow in Evergreen Burial Park at New Philadelphia. Following the committal service, a luncheon will be held in the Geib Family Center at New Philadelphia.