BREWER – John T. Thut, 96, of Bolton, N.C. died Jan. 19, 2006, at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Wilmington, N.C. John was born Oct. 21, 1909, in New Haven, Conn. and raised on a tenant farm in Pine Plains, N.Y. He attended a one-room schoolhouse and left when he was in the seventh grade. He went to work on a farm at 15 and at 19 went to work for Lane Construction Corporation in the New England area. He worked for them for 17 years on both road and airport construction jobs throughout the northeast. John left Lane Construction in 1947, to start his own business in Bangor. He founded Thut’s Express, Thut’s Trailer Leasing Company and Thut’s Realty, Inc. He made his home in Brewer. He was a member of the Rising Virtue Masonic Lodge, Consistory 32nd degree Scottish Rite subsequently becoming a member of the Anah Temple Shrine. John received a special honor, the only person to be so honored, as director for Life of Maine Motor Transport Association. He was also a director of Maine Motor Rate Bureau and a charter member of the American Truck Historical Society. He was predeceased by his first wife, Anita; and a niece, Kathleen Moore of Pine Plains, N.Y. Survivors include one grandniece, Ellen Moore and her son; one grandnephew, Brandon Moore; and three daughters; ex-wife, Janet Thut; and four stepchildren, Kathy Mottsinger Hensley husband, Teddy, and three children of McGaheysville, Va., Kim Mottsinger and one son of McGaheysville, Va., Eric Merritt and two children of Bucksport, Nancy Merritt Freeman and husband, Irdle and three children, of LeeLand, N.C.; five great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held in Maine in the spring for those who wish to pay their respects to John. Further information will be provided at a later date.
JOHN T THUT
