John R. Cecil, 92, of Baldwinsville, NY passed away on Sunday, October 26, 2025 at his home.  John was born in 1933 in Albany, NY, a child of John R. Cecil and Catherine (Fitzsimmons) Cecil.  John's father died when John was 10 years old.  His mother later married Cecil C. Coggen of Skaneateles Falls.  Cecil Coggen became a caring and loving father to John.  John lived most of his childhood in Liverpool, NY.  John in his preteens developed a love for natural history, camping and fishing.  He took a correspondence course in taxidermy as a sixth-grade student, pursuing the art until enlisting in the service. He enlisted in the Army Reserves as a junior in high school and reenlisted for active duty during the Korean War.  He served with the 622nd Military Police, I Corps, as a MP and investigator for 16 months in Korea.  He was discharged at the rank of staff sergeant after 8 years of service.

John has been a member of the Liverpool American Legion Post 188 and a life member of the Clay VFW Post 951, serving as Post Chaplin for several years. After military service, John received the GI Bill for academic studies at SUNY Cortland and earned his BS and MS degrees with emphasis in biology and geology.  Then with the financial assistance of National Science Foundation Grants, he studied Astronomy at Cornell and completed 2 years of post-graduate work at the University of Texas, Austin with emphasis in science education and geology.

John was employed at Groton Central School for 4 years as a Science Supervisor and later for several years as an assistant Geology Professor at SUNY Oneonta. He completed his career as Geology Professor at Jefferson Community College serving over 25 years.  He was granted the title Professor Emeritus by the Board of Trustees, Jefferson Community College in 2000.  In all, John served 35 years as an educator in public education.  John also was a 2nd Degree Black Belt instructor of martial arts at JCC and the Kang Duk Won Martial Arts School in Watertown, NY.

John married Marilyn Lee Wright of Trumansburg, NY in 1958.  They raised 4 wonderful children; Therese, Cynthia, Scott, and Richard. Scott died in a tragic accident at the age of 12 in 1979.  The family purchased and lived on a family hobby farm in the Tug Hill region for many years raising beef cows, chickens, geese, ducks, and rabbits.  They also managed to grow food crops for the animals and fill freezers with vegetables and meat for family and neighbor consumption.  They found living on this farm proved to be a great environment in which to raise the children.

John and Marilyn spent years working as hospital volunteers, both in Watertown and later in Syracuse.   John, Marilyn and family were very active in church activities though out their lives as well as hobbies in nature photography, nature study, poetry, writing, and working with youth groups.  John during his life worked with Boy Scouts as a nature director at Camp Barton and as a merit badge counselor.  He worked with youth as a leader in Christian Boys Brigade and the AWANA youth organizations.  John and Marilyn moved to Baldwinsville in 1999.  They were active in area churches teaching and serving God.  Marilyn died in 2007 after bravely fighting cancer for 20 years.  John and Marilyn were married for 48 wonderful years.  After Marilyn's death, John volunteered at Faith Heritage School as a kitchen helper and in maintenance.

John later met Pamela Dano at Beaver Lake Nature Center; both being widowed.  After several years of loneliness, they discovered happiness and love.  They were married in 2010.  They loved one another deeply and were always together.  They traveled widely visiting Europe, US National Parks, and many trips to Alaska.  John felt blessed by God for this God loving wife. Devoted to church, prayer, and doing devotions together were very important in their lives and they attended weekly Bible studies.  Both had an interest in nature, photography and gardening.

John volunteered at Beaver Lake Nature Center since 1999 and earned close to 2000 volunteer hours working on Enchanted Beaver Lake, Golden Harvest Festivals, Pancake Breakfasts, and Arboretum development.  He served as a trail guide for many years and became a certified Interpretive Guide.  John was selected by the Post Standard as a "Hero of Conservation" in 2012 as one of those who give countless volunteer hours and financial donations to restore woods, fields, and waterways for all to enjoy and become "nature stewards" of the natural world that he so much loved.

John was an active member in various professional organizations including the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, New York Geological Association and the National Association of Geology Teachers.  Other groups included the Friends of Beaver Lake, ADK, National Wildlife Federation, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Nature Conservancy and a supporting member of the Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust.

John wrote and published 4 natural history books, physical and historical geology manuals and geologic papers and gave many illustrated public presentations on natural history subjects.

John is survived by his loving wife, Pam; sister, Sherry Pratt; brother, Ted (Dianne) Coggen; children, Therese Sacchetti, Cynthia (Richard) Allen, Richard (Shelia) Cecil, Robin (John) Finn, Kelly (Michael) Colabello, Deanne (David) Carr, and Paul (Dolores) Dano; 20 grandchildren; 8 great-grandchildren; 1 great-great-grandson and many nieces and nephews.

John praised God for the gift of wonderful family members, friends, mentors and students all of whom he had deep devotion, love and affection.

Calling hours will be held on Sunday, November 2, 2025 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the Maurer Funeral Home Moyers Corners, 3541 State Route 31, Baldwinsville, NY 13027. A funeral service with Military Honors will be on Monday, November 3, 2025 at 10:00 am in Northside Church, 7965 Oswego Road, Liverpool, NY. Burial will follow at 1:00 pm in Brookside Cemetery, Watertown, NY.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in John's memory may be made to Friends of Beaver Lake or Northside Church.

Please sign the Maurer Funeral Home on-line guest book for John to express your condolences to his family.