Obituary for Jack Trautwein (John Howard Trautwein)

RIP, Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024

John Howard (Jack) Trautwein of Alpharetta, GA passed away peacefully on Easter Sunday morning, March 31, 2024. He was just 11 days shy of his 93rd birthday. Jack was born on April 10, 1931, in Philadelphia PA to Howard and Helen Trautwein, and had one sister, Anne Trautwein Patlovich.

Jack is survived by his loving wife of 66 years, Gwendolyn Trautwein and their three children, Grace Kiely Dunn, John Trautwein Jr, and David Trautwein. Jack is also survived by his 11 grand children who were his pride and joy; Taylor Kiely Chebli, Jack Dunn, David Dunn, Faith Dunn, Will Trautwein (RIP, 2010), Tommy Trautwein, Michael Trautwein, Holyn Trautwein, Wyatt Trautwein, Caden Trautwein, and Josie Trautwein.

Jack graduated from Friends Central High School in Philadelphia PA in 1949 where he was a three-sport star in soccer, basketball, and baseball. He was offered numerous basketball and baseball scholarships to college and accepted a scholarship to play baseball at Lafayette College in PA.

After his freshman year in college, Jack was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies and spent the entire summer of 1950 with the Phillies (the Wiz Kids), before spending an additional 6 years in the minor leagues as a pitcher and outfielder for the Phillies and the Boston Red Sox organizations. When his professional baseball career ended, Jack went back to Lafayette College where he earned a degree in Chemistry in 1957.

In April of 1958, Jack married the love of his life, Gwendolyn Feaster in Philadelphia where they lived and had two children (Grace and John) before moving to Peabody MA in 1964. Their third child (David) was born during their stay in MA and in 1967 they moved to Barrington IL, a suburb of Chicago. Jack worked for Liquid Carbonic, a specialty gas corporation as a sales executive to start his career and over a 30+ year period he ascended to the role of President of the Specialty Gas Division of Liquid Carbonic who later became a part of Praxair.

The Trautwein’s remained in Barrington for over 30 years before retiring to Sanibel, FL where they enjoyed a wonderful retirement with so many friends and were always entertaining family year after year. In 2019, Jack and Gwen moved to Alpharetta GA to be closer to family, and up until his last day, he was always communicating not only with his wife and kids but with all his grandchildren as well. His relationships with his grandchildren are what defined him in the end.

Jack was loved by all. He was strong and kind, he was thoughtful and loving. He was an inspirational father, grandfather, and friend. He was a loving husband who treasured his family. He was generous and always made a positive impact on everyone he met throughout his life. After his family, baseball was his passion. He coached not only his own kids, but so many others. But he was more than a coach, he was a motivator and a mentor – he showed his players that he loved them. He also loved to play golf, not just the game itself, but the relationships he was able to form while playing. Throughout his life, Jack was the epitome of a great teammate teaching all his players to love each other and love the game. His beautiful light will be carried by all who loved him.

Services for Jack will be held on a yet to be determined date. Please send condolences to:

Mrs. Gwen Trautwein

630 Dorris Road

Alpharetta, GA 30004

If you would like to make a donation to the Will To Live Foundation on Jack's behalf, you can do so by visiting: https://will-to-live.org/prod…

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