John C. Grap

On August 8, 2015, John Charles Grap passed away at 86 years at John Hopkins Hospital.  He was surrounded by his family.

Born and raised in East Baltimore as the youngest son of Charles Frederick Grap and Louise Grap, John started work with C&P Telephone Company at the age of 15 to help support his parents.  He later served in the United States Army as corporal before marrying his sweetheart, the late Yolanda (Bonnie) Pileci, in 1952.  After he returned from serving, John worked for the Bell System for 40 years and retired from C&P Telephone Company in 1985.

Always wanting to provide a great life for his family, John began going to night school where he received his bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Baltimore.  He later continued his education and received certificates in engineering to further his career.

John enjoyed working with his hands and was very detail oriented.  His many hobbies included leather pyrography, trains, and collecting stamps, coins and baseball cards.  He loved animals and was known to repair the broken wings of wounded wild birds.  After retiring, he took great pleasure in traveling with his wife, Doris.

John was a devoted husband, father of 6 children, grandfather of 17, and great grandfather of 3.  He is survived by his wife of 14 years, Doris Thomas, and his children, Diane Humes of Reston, VA , and her children, Timothy and Maia, Kathleen Jollie of Westminister, MD, and her husband, Greg, and their children, Jeremy, Jason, Ryan and Sara,  David Grap of Ellicott City, MD and his wife, Mary, and their children, Rachel and Michelle, Linda Nitzel of Ellicott City, MD and her husband, Bill, and their children, Christopher and Laura,  Kenneth Grap of Richmond, VA  and his wife, Lauren, and their children, Madeleine and Peter, and  Michael Grap of Catonsville, MD and his wife, Marisol, and their children, Elizabeth, Joanna, Anthony, Eric and Tomas.   He is also survived by two step-children, Rick Thomas and Nancy Bauer.

John’s family will always remember him as a generous and good hearted family man who always felt there was plenty of love to go around.