sOUTH HADLEY- John Joseph Cronin died on Jan. 8, 2012, at the age of 92.

He was born in Holyoke, the son of Mary and Martin Cronin. He attended Rosary School and Rosary High School and was proud to have come from "The Flats."

Both his father and older brother died young, leaving him to help support his mother and sisters. He served in the Pacific during World War II as a Navy gunner's mate. \

He returned to his family in Northampton and became "Uncle John" to Maureen, Joan and William Reardon, and Nancy and Martin McDonald. He worked for Fisk Tire Co., which later became Uniroyal. He left Northampton when he married Irene Constance Kisiel. He retired from Uniroyal in 1976 after working there for 36 years.

After 40 years on Lathrop Street in South Hadley, he and his wife moved to Summerfield, Fla. He was predeceased by his wife of 54 years, Irene Kisiel Cronin, and survived by two daughters, Patricia Hawley of Hollis, Maine, and Janice Cronin of Alexandria, Va.; a son, John Charles Cronin of Plymouth; and four grandchildren, Phillip Hawley, and Michael, David, and Serafina Cronin Rhind-Tutt. A memorial service will be held in the South Hadley area.