John Joseph Hamilton 72, of Salem, died at 10:09 PM Thursday at Salem Regional Medical Center.

He was born on March 19, 1945 in Bellefontaine, Ohio, the son of the late Thomas Anthony and Genevieve Michael (Gorman) Hamilton.

He was self employed as an lighting rod installer He was a 1963 graduate of Salem High School. John served in the US Army during the Vietnam War with the 509 th. Airborne infantry. He was discharged honorably in Germany and spent 16 month traveling across Europe. After he came back to the US, he attended Kent State University and was active in the anti-war demonstration that was held on campus. He was member of the Salem St. Paul's Catholic Church.

John was a very active person and enjoyed to work out. He followed his children over the years and attended their sporting events. If you knew John, and would be around him, a good debate would soon come up. He was involved in keeping up with veteran affairs and was a member of many of the veteran groups. John was a good pool player and enjoyed to play the lottery games.

John is survived by his children of Salem, John Thomas Hamilton, Michael Anthony Hamilton, Joseph Kyle (Mariah Rash) Hamilton and his twin sister Mary Genevieve Hamilton, two grandchildren, Wyatt and Landon Hamilton, siblings, Thomas (Pam) Hamilton of Cleveland, and Annie (Richard) Huffman of Salem.

In addition to his parents he was preceded by a sister Molly Bridget Bledsoe in 2014.