I've waited for someone to add comments about Jack...I guess it ain't gonna happen, so here goes... This guy was a man among boys early on...He matured quickly, got his growth spirt sooner than all the boys in our class...had a younger brother- Mike- maybe 3 years younger... Was very bright... excelled in all athletics... Was a "KILLER" pitcher on the 1956 Little League team that was a couple games away from going to Williamsport,P.A....In a final loss in Boone,Iowa-Cheffer struck out 20 batters in 9 inings... He was unhittable...Later- he was an outstanding halfback for Golden Gordie The Gallopin Gird Iron Great! Dad -Jack Sr.- and mom Louise lived just south of South Side Grade School...They drove a '52 Green Buick about 1959-62...Jack,Sr. didn't work anywhere?...Was an exterminator in his spare time... With top down on Buick they slowly drove the streets of Watseka from 3:30- 8:00 PM nearly every night of the summer...Jack went to U of I and married Muareen Sampson early on...He got his degree and then some...Had several kids but the difficulties of life set in...divorce/lonliness/and so much more...Did work with underprivileged... tried to see him in 1982 but he had "withdrawn" and was not the Jack I had known...He worked in Kankakee...I last saw him in 1967 and he seemed troubled then..I always considered him a" Star"...howbeit...a "Star" I could never get close to- no matter how hard I tried to be his friend...Jack..I know you must finally be at Peace...God bless you.
What a tragedy. My own experience with bi-polar friends is that there is little hope for the victim. Maureen, you did the best you could with an impossible situation. The first priority for us all is to protect and nuture the next generation. It sounds like you succeeded in doing that.
Jack WAS a very special guy. He was a great athlete AND smart. That set the tone for the rest of us guys. In most classes at WCHS, the guys were supposed to be athletes but not scholars. Ours was different largely because of Jack's example. Those of us whose success has been predicated by academics owe Jack a lot.
Jack and I enrolled at the U of I and we lived a few blocks apart. For some dumb reason, my fraternity thought the pledges should be up by 7am and studying. This was a disaster for those of us who were night people. I could barely think before noon let alone study. So I would get up and stumble over to Jack's and sleep on his floor until my first class. Some of our other classmates would have made fun of me for this but Jack was his usual mature, sympathic self.
Richard "Dick" Oakley
I've waited for someone to add comments about Jack...I guess it ain't gonna happen, so here goes... This guy was a man among boys early on...He matured quickly, got his growth spirt sooner than all the boys in our class...had a younger brother- Mike- maybe 3 years younger... Was very bright... excelled in all athletics... Was a "KILLER" pitcher on the 1956 Little League team that was a couple games away from going to Williamsport,P.A....In a final loss in Boone,Iowa-Cheffer struck out 20 batters in 9 inings... He was unhittable...Later- he was an outstanding halfback for Golden Gordie The Gallopin Gird Iron Great! Dad -Jack Sr.- and mom Louise lived just south of South Side Grade School...They drove a '52 Green Buick about 1959-62...Jack,Sr. didn't work anywhere?...Was an exterminator in his spare time... With top down on Buick they slowly drove the streets of Watseka from 3:30- 8:00 PM nearly every night of the summer...Jack went to U of I and married Muareen Sampson early on...He got his degree and then some...Had several kids but the difficulties of life set in...divorce/lonliness/and so much more...Did work with underprivileged... tried to see him in 1982 but he had "withdrawn" and was not the Jack I had known...He worked in Kankakee...I last saw him in 1967 and he seemed troubled then..I always considered him a" Star"...howbeit...a "Star" I could never get close to- no matter how hard I tried to be his friend...Jack..I know you must finally be at Peace...God bless you.
Vince O'Brien
What a tragedy. My own experience with bi-polar friends is that there is little hope for the victim. Maureen, you did the best you could with an impossible situation. The first priority for us all is to protect and nuture the next generation. It sounds like you succeeded in doing that.
Jack WAS a very special guy. He was a great athlete AND smart. That set the tone for the rest of us guys. In most classes at WCHS, the guys were supposed to be athletes but not scholars. Ours was different largely because of Jack's example. Those of us whose success has been predicated by academics owe Jack a lot.
Jack and I enrolled at the U of I and we lived a few blocks apart. For some dumb reason, my fraternity thought the pledges should be up by 7am and studying. This was a disaster for those of us who were night people. I could barely think before noon let alone study. So I would get up and stumble over to Jack's and sleep on his floor until my first class. Some of our other classmates would have made fun of me for this but Jack was his usual mature, sympathic self.
I will remember Jack and his story forever.
Vince