John S. "Jack" Hamilton

Mr. John S. “Jack” Hamilton, 70, of Mendon MA, the retired President & CEO of the Charles River Bank died unexpectedly on Friday (December 29, 2023) at his residence. He was the beloved husband of Patricia E. (Hoffman) Hamilton.

Jack was born in Brockton in 1953, the son of the late John H. Hamilton Jr. and Geraldine V. (Desmond) Hamilton.  Hs is survived by his beloved wife Patricia (Trish) (Hoffman) Hamilton, his sister Linda D. (Hamilton) Dolan and her children Geoffry and Jennifer, and his brother Peter N. Hamilton and his wife Nancy and their children John, Shannon and Daniel as well as multiple cousins he enjoyed spending time with.

Jack grew up in West Bridgewater MA and graduated high school in 1971 and was the recipient of the 1st Benjamin Beal Howard Scholarship. In high school, he was an athlete and played multiple sports and coached little league.

He was an sports enthusiast and loved his Boston teams.  Jack was an avid golfer, fisherman, photographer, guitarist and outdoorsman. He enjoyed his fishing camp trips to ME with his wife and their Rhodesian Ridgebacks.  His love of golf lead him to trips to Scotland where he played golf and enjoyed the culture.  Jack was also a talented musician.

Jack loved all dogs, especially Rhodesian Ridgebacks (RR), which he raised and showed competitively with guidance by his friend, dog breeder Bonnie Johnson. His beloved dogs, named with musical references, were rescue Greyhound Halley, RRs Biko, Zappa, Dinah-mo-hum, Chunga, Gracie, and Joey. He is survived by his beloved Rhodesian Ridgeback Frankie and Mini French Bull Terrier, Bongo. His dogs were his children. 

He graduated Boston College in 1975, Cum Laude with a Political Science Degree and began his career in banking which spanned almost 50 years, retiring December 31, 2021 from Charles River Bank as the President & CEO, after leading the bank for 20 years. 

Jack led the Charles River Bank team through strategic changes that have made a positive, lasting impact on the bank, its customers and the community.

In 2001 he was selected President & CEO of the then Medway Cooperative Bank. Jack recognized the opportunity to expand the bank’s reach into more local communities. He led the bank through a name change to Charles River Bank (CRB) in January 2009 and the creation of Charles River Bancorp, MHC.  Those decisions supported the successful future financial stability and growth of CRB, which culminated in the opening of three additional offices in Bellingham, Mendon, and Medway High School.  Jack focused on building the Bank’s commercial and residential lending portfolios and expansion of product offerings and technology services.  He brought state of the art banking design to the bank’s customers with a comprehensive renovation of the Main Office in Medway, completed in time for the Bank’s 100th Anniversary celebration in 2015. Charles River Bank’s assets grew 3-fold under Jack’s leadership.

With his extensive industry knowledge and decisive tactics, Jack faced the challenges of the 2008/2009 financial crisis with aplomb.  He more recently managed the Bank successfully through the 2020 Covid pandemic so that the Bank was prepared to assist customers remotely or safely in-branch with minimal impact to service.

Jack was very active in community organizations and industry groups.  He served as a Corporator and a member of the Golf Tournament Committee of Milford Regional Medical Center, was a former director of the Medway Foundation for Education, a founding member and director of Mendon-Upton Education Foundation, and former director of the Tri-County Chamber of Commerce.  He was a board member of The Co-operative Central Bank (2006-2009), New England Association of Retail Lenders, New England Mortgage Insurance Exchange and New England Insurance Trust.  He helped countless people obtain business and home loans, and always made sure that every possible avenue was explored to make a loan that made sense for the borrower and the bank, even if it didn’t seem possible at first. 

To his bank team members, Jack was a smart common sense leader with strategic vision, an incredible resource for all things banking related, with an open door policy.  After his retirement as President & CEO on December 31, 2021, Jack continued to serve as director of Charles River Bank and a trustee of Charles River Bancorp, MHC.

Jack had great love and respect for all he worked with, especially his Charles River Bank colleagues who were his extended family. He had a great sense of humor and loved entertaining people with his quick wit. 

In accordance with his wishes cremation has taken place. Relatives & friends are invited to extend their condolences to John's family on TUESDAY (January 16th) from 4pm to 7pm at the Edwards Memorial Funeral Home, 44 Congress Street, Milford MA. A Prayer Service will be held at the conclusion of the visiting hours at 7pm.                                         

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