Jack was born on June 13, 1940 in Fort Wayne, IN and passed on November 12, 2021 at the age of 81. His big gorgeous kind loving heart decided to hang up its hat after trying so hard to get stronger and better the last two years while dealing with congestive heart failure.

Jack is survived by his wife Nancy whom he met at age 15 the last day of Freshman Year at Central Catholic High School in Fort Wayne, IN. Their first date was on September 30, 1955. They were married for 60 years and if you asked him about her, he would reply "My main mission in life is to keep Nancy happy.”

Working during high school at Anthony Wayne Motor parts, his grandfather’s automotive parts company in the 1950’s. he saved for his first car at age 16, A beloved 1955 Two toned blue/white Plymouth Belvedere, which he proudly displayed photos of and told anyone that would listen about his amazing adventures; parking violations of chalked tires at high school, driving to Ohio for 3.2 beers with his friends on Friday night, and picking up Nancy for a date.

Jack studied business at Indiana university in Bloomington, Indiana where he continued his interest in being a basketball fan! For many years he continued to attend the local high school games.

He mastered being super organized which included reading the entire book “West Side Story” while waiting for his first daughter Laura, to be born during senior finals week in 1962. Clearly, he was ahead of the curve when it came to multi- tasking.

His first job out of college was with General Electric in Fort Wayne. After a year he moved on to work for Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, Indiana where his second daughter, Ann was born in 1964.

In 1968 he moved to Marion, Indiana where he spent the majority of his career as an industrial engineer at RCA picture tube division. This connection enabled him to be the first family on the block to have a color TV in 1968. It was in Marion that his third daughter, Amy was born in 1970.

He accepted a transfer to work at RCA in Lancaster PA in 1973. After that plant was closed, he spent a very short time at Dentsply in York, PA. This was clearly not his favorite job!

Eventually he was asked to move to New Jersey in 1988 where he worked at Lockheed Martin in Mt Laurel NJ. He was at this job for 10 years until he retired and moved back to Lancaster. At that time, he founded his own consulting company, JANA Associates.

He spent many hours donating his time doing things he loved. When the girls were little, he coached softball teams for 12 years. Even though his daughters ended up as managers because, he said they all ran “like a wounded gazelle”.

He was on the building committee for the new St John Neumann Church in Lancaster, PA and chairman of the addition to the church until he moved to New Jersey.

In 2000, he supported Nancy in the creation of the Matthew 25 Thrift Shop in Lititz, PA. He was the president of the board of directors and a Saturday morning cashier. He certainly had the gift of gab and would chat and joke around with everyone at the shop.

His grandchildren were the light of his life. He was thrilled the first one was born a month before his 50th birthday. No one could escape “the claw” his version of getting a good tickle in. He could get any crying child to stop by running to the window looking for the “big truckie”. Or taking a ride on the “horsey” on his knee that would gallop fast if you put imaginary money in his hand. His best game was feeding “Leroy”, the coin purse that lived in his pocket. Leroy had the best “I’m Hungry! Feed me more “voice that will go down in history.

His favorite hobby was golf which he especially loved after his full time retirement. He had a core group of friends and he organized a yearly tournament in Myrtle Beach, SC. He especially loved his morning routine at Overlook Golf Club with his friends. His biggest golf accomplishment came on June 1, 2001 when he achieved a hole in one on the 12th hole at Overlook. He also enjoyed playing poker with friends.

Also, in his spare time over the years he enjoyed being with his dog, Smokey Joe. He loved that he finally had another boy in the house. He spent endless hours in the backyard enjoying his swimming pool.

He loved traveling to see his daughters and his four brothers-in-laws; Tom, Jerry, Mike, and Joe. Jack was such a big part of their lives and spent many hours laughing with them during his trips to Indiana and Colorado.

He was a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan and spent many years going to games with season tickets. The last few years he’s participated in fantasy football, which he told us he keeps winning the season because he is an expert at analysis and enters everything into his spreadsheet. This is the only way to win it all.

That’s our Jack who worked so hard these last few weeks getting everything checked off his list. May we all live by his motto “Get in there, get the job done, and get out “. We are thrilled he was able to finish his list - you did a great job getting the job done and may you Rest In Peace Jack.

He was very clear that he wants us all to celebrate his life. We would love to hear your memories and hope you can post your stories with us here.