- Date Of Birth: May 19, 1926
- Date Of Death: November 27, 2019
- State: Michigan
Jack passed away peacefully at home on November 27, 2019, at home in Portage, MI. He was born May 19, 1926 to Oscar M. and Marie (Bekker) Jorgensen in Manhattan, KS. After graduating high school, he enlisted in the Navy Sea Bea’s and served in Guam and Okinawa until the end of WWII. Upon returning home from the navy, he met and married the love of his life. He and Etta Mae (Gay) were married for nearly 69 years.
He worked with his father in the family business “Jorgensen Implement and Hardware” until 1959 when he moved his family to Flagstaff, AZ, then in 1961 to Cottonwood, AZ where they owned and operated an egg ranch. In 1968, he began working for the Soil Conservation Service and transferred back to Flagstaff. After their kids grew up and moved away, they transferred to Okmulgee, OK where he retired in 1988. They started travelling in their 5th wheel trailer spending the winters in TX and finally bought a house on the gulf in Rockport, TX. In 2007, they moved to Queen Creek, AZ where they lived until coming to MI in April, 2019.
They spent some time in the 80’s traveling in Europe from Germany to Scandinavia to Spain, Italy and several countries in between. In Norway, they visited several newly discovered 1st cousins.
Jack was very musically talented and played mostly “by ear”. Among the instruments he played were the trumpet, trombone, pump organ, ukulele, guitar and banjo. He loved fishing in the gulf, rivers, lakes or anywhere he could. He also enjoyed oil painting and stained glass. Even though he taught himself most of his hobbies, he also enjoyed teaching those skills to others.
Jack is preceded in death by his sister, Betty (Bob) Hoffman. He is survived by his children: Eric (Dorothy) Jorgensen, Dianna (Meryl) Davis, four grandchildren: Erica Jorgensen, Leif Jorgensen, Eddie Lucke, Brian Lucke, and one great grandson: Hunter Jorgensen.
