John C. Greenlaw

John Charles Greenlaw, 96, of Bradenton passed away on April 14, 2014. John was born on September 16, 1917 in Ridgewood, New Jersey to Minnie Stockton Greenlaw and John Greenlaw. He was the youngest of five children. He graduated from Ridgewood High School where he lettered in football. He vacationed in the Bradenton/Sarasota area during childhood and moved to the area in the mid-thirties. John served in the Navy during WWll and was a veteran of D-Day serving on the minesweeper AM-60 U.S.S. Nuthatch which cleared mines for the invasion on Omaha Beach. He was honorably discharged on Feb. 14, 1946 as a Lieutenant. He married Beatrice (Trice) Bulger in 1953. They were married thirty-seven years until her passing in 1990. John purchased a small company called Palmetto Canning in 1927 which originally only produced guava jelly. After WWll, John Greenlaw assumed control and diversified the operation into tomato canning and other canned products. About 1950, after the downturn in the tomato industry, he decided to take the company back to its core business, Guava Jelly. He expanded into private labeling for Goya Foods and other brands and achieved wide-spread distribution into grocery chains nationwide. His lifelong hobbies were his family, the jelly business, horses, scuba diving, sailing and flying. He loved traveling. His favorite destinations were Paris as well as small villages in Ireland and Scotland. John is survived by his three children: Stephanie Greenlaw Gardner of Bradenton, Jonathan Charles Greenlaw of Bradenton, Heather Greenlaw-Baggs of Brandon. Grandchildren: Jason Charles Gardner 37, Devin Taylor Greenlaw 20, Tyler O’Connor Baggs 17, Troy Davis Baggs 12, Tori Lee Greenlaw 9. Great-grandchildren: Riley Lyn Gardner, 7 and Declan Jason Gardner, 4. A celebration of his life will be held on Saturday April 26, 2014 at Victoria’s Forest behind Palmetto Canning Jelly Factory at 6:00 p.m. 3601 US 41 North, Palmetto, FL. Enter through main plant entrance off US 19-41. Memorial donations may be made to the Retirement Home for Horses at MillCreekFarm. http://millcreekfarm.org/mapvisitorinformation.html Beloved father, hero and friend. Fair Winds and Following Seas Daddy...