Life & Family
Calm in demeanor, level-headed in every situation, he is a man of faith, family and service. Born, raised and residing in Menasha, WI, Jack’s wife of 52 years Mary, reported, “His advice to our kids as they headed off to college—“Find what you love doing and do it well. I’m so lucky to love my work that I look forward to it every day.”
She exclaimed, “I can’t put into words the excitement I feel for Jack being inducted into the FTA Hall of Fame! It’s an honor he will be totally blown away with and will treasure forever.” Mary also noted that Jack attended and graduated from Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, MO.
“He served in the Army at Fort Knox, KY, and later in the Army Reserve, attaining the rank of Captain before being honorably discharged.” She continued, “We’ve been blessed with two children—Brad and Shelley—their spouses—Mindy and Brad—and five grandchildren—Jillian, Harrison, Ryan, Sydney and Olivia.”
It was Mary who revealed that Jack was both pianist and printer, as well as somewhat of an athlete. Jack played a great deal of tennis in his younger years. Flexographers, of course, know him as the avid golfer that he is today. It’s quite hard for him to pass up the opportunity to hit the links. He simply enjoys the game, every chance he gets.
“Our children will tell you that they have the best ‘Poppa’ ever, as he is also a strong influence in their lives. He is a kind and thoughtful man. We are so thankful for him,” Mary offered.
For their part, Brad and Shelley jointly recalled, “We were so fortunate to have a hands-on Dad growing up. He coached many of our sports and never missed any of our activities unless he was traveling for work. Every free night during the summer, the three of us could be found at the nearby park playing tennis—even after it got dark and the lights turned on.
He led by example, instilling in us the value of faith, family and a strong work ethic.”
His volunteer spirit, so notable at work, carries over into personal life as well. Mary noted that Jack spends a great deal of time volunteering in many areas and activities of St. Mary’s Church.
FTA Activities
Jack took to the pages of FLEXO in 2022 and decreed, “All flexo-related processes must be more consistent and stress repeatability. This will promote a healthy industry and one that will take printing to new heights in the future.”
That declaration proved motivating and increased his involvement with furthering the cause. Having already presented at FTA FORUMs in 1987 and 1997, Jack turned his attention to bettering the competition, namely offset and gravure. At FORUM 2012, he participated with a corrugated team in its respective portion of Project FOG.
He later served two full terms on FTA’s Board of Directors and its Foundation’s Board of Trustees, 2012-2018. During that time, he was charged with serving as FTA Vice Chair, Suppliers. And of course, when corrugated concerns appeared on the FORUM agenda, it was Jack working behind the scenes to make certain the session was a success. That happened back-to-back; once in 2017 and then again in 2018.
Subscribing to FTA developed tenants of process control—Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances methodologies, he served on FIRST’s substrate subcommittee and spoke out on the need for better practices that boost flexo’s quality and increase its predictability.