John J. Germenko, founder of a trucking line and petroleum products company, died June 16 of kidney failure at his Ellicott City home. He was 90.
Mr. Germenko was born and raised in Cokeburg, Pa., where he graduated from high school.
He later moved to Catonsville with his family and enlisted in the Navy in 1942. He served as a paymaster at the Bainbridge Naval training center in Cecil County.
After the end of World War II, Mr. Germenko founded Baltimore Tank Lines Inc., a petroleum and chemical trucking company, which served the Middle Atlantic states.
Mr. Germenko sold the business in 1968, and after being bored in retirement, established Space Petroleum & Chemical Co. Inc., a wholesaler of petroleum products including gasoline, diesel and residential fuels.
The company's sales territory ranges from Pennsylvania to South Carolina and as far west as Tennessee.
The Husky Heating Oil Co., a retail heating oil company in Baltimore, is also a component of Space Petroleum & Chemical Co. Inc.
Mr. Germenko retired several years ago from the family-owned company, which is headquartered in Columbia. Other business interests included commercial real estate and strip malls, family members said.
Mr, Germenko enjoyed spending vacations at homes in Ocean City and Naples, Fla. He was an avid Orioles and Ravens fan.
Services were held Saturday.
Surviving are his wife of 27 years, the former Catherine T. Bradley; two daughters, Barbara Germenko Wright of Greensboro, N.C., and Deborah Germenko Tharp of Sarasota, Fla.; a stepson, Ray Henry of Glenwood; a stepdaughter, Cathy Marschall of Ellicott City; and seven grandchildren. An earlier marriage ended in divorce.