BEDFORD, N.H. and BANGOR – John Jay Hanlon Jr., born June 23, 1928, a long-time resident of Bedford, N.H. and a newspaperman with the Manchester Union Leader, died at his winter home May 18, 2006, in Bangor. A native of Westport’s, Conn., Hanlon attended Westport Staples High School and after service in the U.S. merchant marines and Navy during World War II, he attended Regiopolis College, a Jesuit college in Ontario, Canada where he lettered in football and hockey. He started his newspaper career at the Westporter Herald, moved to Connecticut as a correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune, then to the Bridgeport Post-Telegram and lastly to the Union Leader which he joined in 1955. He held a number of positions at the Union Leader, that of staff reporter, statewide reporter and editor of the paper’s special editions. He was perhaps best known for his weekly column, Jay Hanlon’s Notebook that he wrote for 20 years. Hanlon resigned from the paper in 1980 and he and his wife, Joan, sold their Bedford home and moved aboard a 37-foot ketch “Snowdrift” and for the next six years they sailed the Bahamas and Caribbean Islands. They moved ashore in 1986, to a home in Naples, Fla. where they spent their winters and then to their summer home on Lake Sysladobsis in Downeast Maine for four months. After the death of his wife, he sold their Naples, Fla. home and moved to Bangor. During the last year of his life, Jay was a frequent contributor to the Bangor Metro Magazine. If newspapering was Hanlon’s vocation in life, his avocation was boats and sailing. As a teenager he raced sailboats on Long Island Sound and crewed aboard a racing yacht in the annual Newport-Bermuda race. He was also an avid skier and tennis player. He was an instructor for the U.S. Power Squadron in Manchester, N.H. and in Naples, Fla. He was predeceased by his wife of 50 years, Joan DePuy Hanlon; as well as two sisters, Sheila Hanlon Kenny and Leigh Hanlon Webber. He is survived by three sons, John III of Malibu, Calif., Mitchell and his wife, Kathleen, of Auburn, N.H. and Michael and his wife, Katherine, of Candia, N.H.; two grandchildren, Justin and Kendra; one sister, Claire Hanlon Brown of Yarmouth Port, Mass.; and his beloved black lab, Maggie. A memorial service will be held 10 a.m. June 9, at the Bedford Presbyterian Church, 4 Church Rd., Bedford, N.H. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to the John Jay Hanlon Jr. Fund, CancerCare of Maine, EMMC Healthcare Charities, P.O. Box 931, Bangor, ME 04402.