Jean 'John' Charles Salomon

Jean “John” Charles Salomon died December 3, 2019. He was 96.

Born June 23, 1923, in Saint Pierre & Miquelon, a French territory off Newfoundland, and raised in Saint-Malo, France, he was a teenager as Nazi Germany was encroaching, so he fled to Marseille to join the French Navy. He served in the Mediterranean, then in the Caribbean islands.

He emigrated to the United States after the war. In 1946 he met his first wife, Juanita Collins, at a dance contest in Jacksonville, Florida. They had two children together: Jean-Pierre and Denise. They were together through the 50s. Afterward he spent time in Remsenburg and, in 1962, met a young woman from Quogue named Jean Van Hoesen at the Yardarm Beach Club. They eventually married and had a third child, James. They parted ways in the late 70s.

Mr. Salomon was well known in the 1960s for having owned the historic Tuthill-Fordham Mill in Speonk, operating as Moriches Woodworking Co. He also built and owned the Hampton Tennis Academy in East Quogue (now Sportime) from 1973 to 1986, and worked on commercial and residential projects for several decades.

His hobbies included cooking, enjoying fine wine, skiing, any chance to travel, betting on the ponies, and yelling at Republican pundits or Bible thumpers on television. He could also eat glass, survivors said.

In spite of his rambunctious demeanor, he died in peacefully his sleep in Jersey City, close in proximity to his son, James, and daughter-in-law, Hala.

He is survived by daughter Denise; son James; grandchildren, Benjamin, Johanna, Matias, and Matilda; and great-grandchildren William and Maxwell. He was predeceased by his son, Jean-Pierre.

A reception will be held in the Westhampton area in early 2020.