Jack's Obituary

Our Dad, Jack, 80, died peacefully on February 15, 2019. He is preceded in death by his beloved mother Ethel, and brother Rick. He is survived by his daughters, Molly Fairchild and Susan (Erik) Flister. He was Grandpa Jack to Tess and Elwood. He was brother to Tom and Doug. He is also survived by nieces, nephews, and friends.

Our Dad's health declined suddenly and rapidly on January 14, 2019. His death was a terrible shock to my sister and myself.  We were with him for the last weeks of his life to help in any way we could. To provide company and conversation. To confer with nurses and doctors. And to plan for a future that never came. He will be missed profoundly.

Jack grew up with his Mom, three brothers (Tom, Doug, Rick), Aunts, Uncles, a Granny and a Grandma in Duluth, MN. He was a Norweigan-English-Irish-Scottish, blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy with a curious smile and deep dimples. He enjoyed playing at Hartley Field, skating on Tischer Creek, spending summers at his Aunt's cabin in Amery, Wisconsin, and he LOVED hockey. He was very proud to have played on the Glen Avon Peewee team 1952-53. The worst part of his year was June-October because there was no hockey on TV.

Jack attended Duluth East High School from 1953-1956, After high school, he joined the Navy Reserves. He loved being in the Navy He served his time on a destroyer escort the USS Van Voorhis that departed for the Mediterranean and returned to Newport, RI. When his time was up, he enlisted for another year because he wanted to see South America.

Jack moved to St. Paul in 1965 to begin working for 3M. He worked in the Microfilm division and later, Optical Recording earning several patents on his work. While at 3M he made some great friends that are still his friends to this day.

Jack married and started a family in with the birth of daughter Molly in 1972, then daughter Susan in 1977. He was the best Dad. He sang us to sleep, fixed our cuts, soothed mosquito bites, always made sure we wore sunscreen, loved us unconditionally, and taught us by example how to be kind, gentle, and generous.

Jack was a fisherman and outdoor-lover. He and his friends went on biannual fishing trips; ice-fishing in the winter and lake fishing in the summer which is where he found his property on Lake Kabekona. He taught my sister and me to fish, and was always willing to bait the hook or take a bullhead off the line. He took us camping, and on many family vacations. He always had a map of the area, and woke early to layout the plan for the day and have breakfast waiting.

Jack retired from 3M in 1995 and moved north to build a cabin on the lake. He was a creative, resourceful craftsman and you can see it in every inch of his cabin. He loved watching the wildlife around the cabin, taking notice of their habits and reporting to his daughter. He wrote the ice-out day on his calendar every year, and loved to talk about the weather. The biannual fishing trips with his friends became biannual visits to his cabin where fishing was replaced by pool tournaments, but there was a trophy.

Jack loved to cook, and he was a great cook. He was in charge of family meals when we were young, and we loved it when he'd make "silver-dolllar" pancakes with Mickey Mouse ears. He was always excited to tell us about a great recipe that he made. He made his own bread and the house would smell of it baking.

Jack was an avid reader of Mystery and Detective novels. He checked out so many books from the library that he started penciling in a small red dot on the last page of book to keep from checking out the same book again and again.

Jack was a top-notch cribbage player, He organized tournament-style games around Laporte and people knew him as "Cribbage Jack". In his last days, he still had the energy to play a game. He always won.

Most importantly, our Dad was a strong, loving, smart, kind, funny, precise, loyal, and private man who always had time to help, to listen, and to encourage and support his daughters.

Life after February 15, 2019 is irrevocably and forever changed.

A private family burial will be performed at Fort Snelling National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, cards/memorials can be sent to:

Johnson Peterson Funeral Home
2130 2nd Street
White Bear Lake, MN 55110.