John Krein, 88, of Apalachin, NY, passed away peacefully at his home on September 13, 2025. Born in Newark, NJ, he was the son of Joseph and Anna Krein. He was predeceased by his parents, his sister Julia Sheppard, and his brother Joseph Krein.

As a youth, he was a member of the Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights Drum and Bugle Corps and graduated from Irvington Technical High School. He was the first member of his family to attend college and worked several jobs while attending Newark College of Engineering, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. He began his engineering career at RCA in NJ, where he met his future wife Fran, with whom he shared 62 years of marriage. They moved to Apalachin, NY in 1963 where he had a 28-year engineering and management career at IBM, during which he finished his Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He was a long-time member of St. Margaret Mary's Church, where he was a lector, eucharistic minister, and served on the parish council and the finance committee. He later was a member of Our Lady of Sorrows Church.

Following his retirement from IBM, John worked for Nationwide and State Farm as a home insurance inspector and helped family and friends with home and yard maintenance.

John was passionate about his 1933 Dodge (the same model that his father owned) and he enjoyed restoring the car and taking it to car shows and driving it in parades. An avid lover of music, he played piano for much of his life and sang in the church choir and local college choir. John's other interests included attending his sons' sporting, music, and scouting events, and vacationing on Long Beach Island, NJ. John enjoyed bowling, bocce, cards, photography, table tennis, slot cars, model trains, solving crossword and other word puzzles, and making his famous pizza for family and friends for many years.

John is survived by his wife Fran, his sons Michael, Stephen (Julie), Timothy (Diane), and Peter, and his seven grandchildren: Liz (Ryan) Clark, David, Allison, Colleen, Sean, Sarah, and Maggie Krein, all of whom called him Papa John. He is also survived by his sisters Mary (George) Corrigan, Cecilia Fletcher, and Loretta Dougherty, and many loving nieces and nephews.

The family is grateful for the caregivers at You're Family Home Care who helped John live out his final year at home.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated for John at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Vestal, NY, on Thursday, October 23, at 10:30 a.m. The family will hold a visitation at the church beginning at 9:30 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in John's name to the Alzheimer's Association (alz.org).