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John's official obituary has been added following the information from Sig Hansen.
This Information has been received from Sigrid Hansen via Facebook:
Dear friends of John’s….our wonderful friend passed a few days ago after many long battles for healing. The past few years brought me closer to him and he always said that in another life we had been married…I never asked him if it went well. There has been no official posing by the family as of yet so thought you would like to know. I told John how lucky he was to be married to Jean as she went above and beyond to care for him..not too many people with that sort of love and endurance. Besides they enjoyed many happy years together. My high school friend Jacque Berlin and I reconnected this past winter and we both were in contact with John,,right to the last few days. Swapping stories of Time in Saginaw, the friends and people there and the between times when we lost track of each other…and lots of great laughs, wows, and yikes…to pepper the conversations. John called me from his hospital bed in Ann Arbor as they were attempting to bring him home. He told me that he was ready to go and that he wanted me to send him painting of my  …but a true painting would have been of a broken heart and so I sent him a copy of a painting I had done years before to help send him to the light..I will post this in another post…And Jacque whispered to him a beautiful prayer….Raise a glass of some strong drink and send a good word out across the stars to our friend, John Denton…you will be missed. We all loved you.
John Leet Denton, Sr., 76, passed away on Monday, September 4, 2023 at his home surrounded by his family.
John Leet Denton was born on August 25, 1947 in Saginaw, Michigan to Edward Brady, Sr. and Dorothy Ann (Sharpe) Denton. He married Jean Catherine Doriean on August 21, 2004, she survives him.
John was a graduate of Arthur Hill High School and received his BA from Michigan State University and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Detroit School of Law.
He practiced law for 18 years before going into the insurance business as an Employee Benefit Consultant. John was on the Health Alliance Plan Agent Advisory Council. He served as a trustee on the Saginaw Board of Education and was a member of the St. Stephen’s School Board. At Michigan State University, he was a member of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity, and was a former member of the Saginaw Country Club and the Saginaw Club. He served six years in the Army National Guard and was a former member of the honor guard for the American Legion Post #439.
John was adventurous and loved to travel. In high school, John participated in the Saginaw Youth for Understanding Teenage Exchange Program. He spent three months in Sweden with side trips to Denmark and Norway. A highlight of that trip was waterskiing in a fjord with the Swedish Junior Downhill Champion. At twenty years old, he traveled with his family to England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Spain, and the Azores where he went skin diving.
He enjoyed skiing in Aspen, Vail, and Arapahoe Basin. John and Jean loved to go to Watervale in Northern Michigan, a resort that John had been going to since 1953. Together, John and Jean also traveled through most of the United States and spent three weeks in Italy, loving Tuscany and the Chianti Classico Region. John also loved reading, cooking, and gardening.
Surviving are his wife, Jean Denton; one son, John (Kaitlin) Denton, Jr.; one brother, Robert Denton, his canine companion, Cooper, and many nieces and nephews.
John was preceded in death by his parents, E. Brady Denton, Sr. and Dorothy Ann Denton-Borchard, as well as one brother, E. Brady Denton, Jr.
VISITATION: Family and friends will gather at Deisler Funeral Home, 2233 Hemmeter Rd. (off State) on Saturday, September 16, 2023 from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. At the conclusion of the visitation, Military Honors will be conducted under the auspices of the United States Army and American Legion Post #439.
MEMORIALS: Those planning an expression of sympathy may wish to consider memorials to American Legion Post #439 or the Saginaw Community Foundation.
Deisler Funeral Home is honored to serve the Denton family. Please share your thoughts and memories with the family at the funeral home or through www.deislerfuneralhome.com.
John Leet Denton, Sr., 76, passed away on Monday, September 4, 2023 at his home surrounded by his family.
John Leet Denton was born on August 25, 1947 in Saginaw, Michigan to Edward Brady, Sr. and Dorothy Ann (Sharpe) Denton. He married Jean Catherine Doriean on August 21, 2004, she survives him.
John was a graduate of Arthur Hill High School and received his BA from Michigan State University and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Detroit School of Law.
He practiced law for 18 years before going into the insurance business as an Employee Benefit Consultant. John was on the Health Alliance Plan Agent Advisory Council. He served as a trustee on the Saginaw Board of Education and was a member of the St. Stephen’s School Board. At Michigan State University, he was a member of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity, and was a former member of the Saginaw Country Club and the Saginaw Club. He served six years in the Army National Guard and was a former member of the honor guard for the American Legion Post #439.
John was adventurous and loved to travel. In high school, John participated in the Saginaw Youth for Understanding Teenage Exchange Program. He spent three months in Sweden with side trips to Denmark and Norway. A highlight of that trip was waterskiing in a fjord with the Swedish Junior Downhill Champion. At twenty years old, he traveled with his family to England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Spain, and the Azores where he went skin diving.
He enjoyed skiing in Aspen, Vail, and Arapahoe Basin. John and Jean loved to go to Watervale in Northern Michigan, a resort that John had been going to since 1953. Together, John and Jean also traveled through most of the United States and spent three weeks in Italy, loving Tuscany and the Chianti Classico Region. John also loved reading, cooking, and gardening.
Surviving are his wife, Jean Denton; one son, John (Kaitlin) Denton, Jr.; one brother, Robert Denton, his canine companion, Cooper, and many nieces and nephews.
John was preceded in death by his parents, E. Brady Denton, Sr. and Dorothy Ann Denton-Borchard, as well as one brother, E. Brady Denton, Jr.
VISITATION: Family and friends will gather at Deisler Funeral Home, 2233 Hemmeter Rd. (off State) on Saturday, September 16, 2023 from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. At the conclusion of the visitation, Military Honors will be conducted under the auspices of the United States Army and American Legion Post #439.
MEMORIALS: Those planning an expression of sympathy may wish to consider memorials to American Legion Post #439 or the Saginaw Community Foundation.
Deisler Funeral Home is honored to serve the Denton family. Please share your thoughts and memories with the family at the funeral home or through www.deislerfuneralhome.com.
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Jacqueline Berlin (Mercier-Berman)
I have not been on this website since before the pandemic, which Covid took my husbands life in 2020.
I reconnected last year with John Denton and Sigrid Hansen in phone calls and email. John refused to text and I refuse to join Facebook.
Today I heard from Sigrid that AH added John in Memory.
I signed in and read my HS friend Carolyn Engle passed , and I loved the wonderful tribute left by Cheryl.
I will miss John's brillant mind, his wit humor and love.
Saginaw has lost an historian specific to Arthur Hill. John could recant every beer party, everyone who got caught, Daniels Den and when marijuna filled the air, the good cops and the bad cops, and how he let me cheat and copy his Algebra final (WE both got an A) The names of all AH teachers, where we were when Kenndy got shot, and the names of our siblings that went to AH ahead of us and what careers they chose.
And if that was not enough, John firmly belived he had been here before in another lifetime and he told me he was married to Sigrid Hansen!
Johns wonderful wife Jean was happy it was Sigrid and not somemboy she did not know and care for in this lifetime.
John told me on his last call he made to me to say good-by, that he would not make it to the morning.
He wanted me to know that Jean and John's best buddy are going to spread his ashes at his favorite places in Michigan.
I hope that I can return and visit and walk where John is now, and reconnect with the Hillites in this lifetime as I am not coming back.
Until then I wish God.speed.
Jacque Berlin Mercier-Berman 1965
Cheryl Vibert (Tucker)
Jacque Berlin,
What a lovely tribute you posted for John Denton. It brought back alot of memories. I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your husband. I had not heard about that. I wish you well and hope that one of these days we can reconnect. I visit Michigan every summer for a few weeks. Hugs, Cheryl
Tom Heidtke
I never had the good fortune to know John as a friend. I knew his name and I'm pretty sure he knew mine. We would smile and say hi whenever our paths crossed at school, but that's as far as it went. We hung in different crowds and there was never an opportunity to develop a real friendship. Nevertheless, John always seemed like superman to me ... strong, smart, handsome, and above all else, thoughtful and kind. That's how I read the tea leaves back then. John Denton just seemed like a special guy, someone who was going to be a big success in life. After reading what's been written here by those who knew him well, it sure seems I was right. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends.
Gary F. Major
First, beautiful tributes regarding John. My take is a bit different. While I knew John at AHHS as we shared several classes over the years, inadvertently, John pointed me to my first full time job and also created a course for employment later in life. After we graduated, John Denton was an orderly at Saginaw General hospital and my grandmother was a patient, and i was up to see her every day, before I started my part time job close by.
At the end of summer, when John was ready to head to college, my plans were still unclear. John tracked me down and told me that he and another orderly were leaving and I should apply. Which I did and became house orderly. Later in life, I was working a series of temp jobs as radio (my primary career) had dried up, and one of the agencies asked me if I had any healthcare experience, which truefully I did. In Dec 1993 I started in a hospital pharmacy and finally retired in October of 2020 after 26 1/2 years service. Until I saw the post on this page, I had not thought about John in a long time and certainly had not thought about the impact he had made in my life. I was saddened to hear of his passing, and I thought that this was a fitting tribute. May he rest in peace.
Jacqueline Berlin (Mercier-Berman)
Leave it to John Denton going on his journey, to have reconnected people that knew John and whose lives were benefited becasue of John's humanity.
Hearing from Cheryl lifted my Spirits . One message, distracted me from this violent angry climate we live in outside our front door.
John gets the credit for doing what he always was doing, saying hello to everyone in the hallways, or when he was playing pool, or hanging at the new McDonalds or driving downtown and beeping at you when we drove over the Saginaw Bridge at the same time, moments in time I forgot about until now.
John was kind to stangers and so ahead of his time. Whatever John had or knew that he knew and believed was important , he shared it whether we wanted to hear it or not.
Directly or indirectly, there are people in our lives that at the time we knew them or knew of them, impressed us to the extent we wanted to be like them. I wanted to be smart like John.
John Denton will not be forgotten . John must be happy that he has brought people back from the past into the present. I know I am happier reading the comments that I hope will keep coming.
James Longhurst (Longhurst)
Such wonderful words written for a great guy. Like Tom Heidtke said, John and I never really hung out together but I always considered him a good friend. We played pool together at the Rack 'N Cue out on State and Center Streets. He was always smiling and ready with a funny story or quip. I know we wrote in each others' Legenda's (AHHS yearbooks) and I will have to get mine out to see what he wrote.
After high school we drifted apart as so often happens. Our family moved away from Saginaw after graduation which precluded the possibility of running into each other at breaks or in the summers. We chatted together at the reunions over the years but it wasn't until several years ago on Facebook that we reconnected. John's posts were very thought provoking...or they were funny...and sometimes both at the same time. From what he posted, he seemed to me to be a person who cared about social justice and would express his viewpoints. I could also tell that he had a wonderful sense of humor.
I know many are deeply saddened by his passing. My heart goes out to his family.