Jack Weldon Jessip 1924 - 2019

JESSIP, WILLS, COMSTOCK, HAGAN

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 4/11/2019 at 23:43:06

Sioux City Journal
26 March 2019

Sioux City

Jack Weldon Jessip, 94, of Sioux City, passed away Sunday, March 24, 2019.

A funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Meyer Brothers Morningside Chapel. Viewing and family visitation will be Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m., with a Masonic service and prayer service at 7 p.m. at Meyer Brothers Morningside Chapel. Interment will be at Memorial Park Cemetery. Online condolences may be offered at www.meyerbroschapels.com.

Jack Weldon Jessip was born at home in Liberty Township, near Merrill, Iowa, on June 17, 1924, to parents Arthur and Katherine (Wills) Jessip.

Jack served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946, aboard the U.S.S. California. This battleship had been raised after being sunk during the attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941, and restored to service. Serving as a Gunner's Mate 3rd Class, he survived kamikaze strikes aboard the ship during battle in the Pacific Theatre, in World War II. He liked to tell how he went around the world twice during his time on the U.S.S. California, and crossed the equator.

He was honorably discharged from the Navy and returned home in 1946. He married Ramona Comstock, bought a house and had two children, Gary and Nancy. He remained in that home for the next 40 years, never ceasing to work on it, adding on and remodeling continually. His green thumb was also evident every spring when tier after tier of beautiful purple phlox flowers cascaded over the terraces he built on the front yard hill. He also always had a garden and could grow bumper crops of just about anything.

Jack loved to roller skate, dance, fish and travel. Camping trips to the western U.S. were on the docket every summer for his little family, traveling in an old suburban he'd outfitted like an RV. After retirement and a divorce, he became a "snowbird," traveling by real RV to spend winters in the warm Texas valley where he enjoyed dances, potluck dinners and deep-sea fishing with his new love, Rose Hagan.

He met Rose at an Eagles Club dance in South Sioux City in 1986. It was love at first sight and they soon combined their families to create a contingent that outdid the Brady Bunch--seven grown children and multitudes of grandchildren, all of whom he dearly loved.

Rose has remained his faithful companion for these 33 years. They most recently lived at Whispering Creek Retirement Village, where they were loved and cared for by the delightful staff there.

Pivotal to their ability to remain independent was the loving care provided by Rose's daughter Linda Kriener and husband Dan and granddaughter Kali, and Rose's other daughters Bonnie Richardson and Mary Hagan.

During Jack's working days, he proved he could and would tackle any job, and "get 'er done." He began his career literally digging ditches. He drove snow plows. He poured cement. He toted hay bales. In the mid-1950's, Jack became the first operator of the new, massive, state-of-the-art street paving machine, which is now on display at the Sioux City Museum. Jack worked for Irving Jensen, aka Jensen & Craig, traveling to small towns to lay cement roads.

He wasn't afraid of hard manual labor, but also took advantage of opportunities to better himself. He attended Dale Carnegie courses to learn management skills, and steadily moved into higher positions. By the end of his 35-year career with the city, he was the street superintendent for the City of Sioux City, despite having only an eighth-grade education. One of his achievements in this position was creating the first snow route maps for clearing city streets in an organized, prioritized manner.

Jack's civic and philanthropic activities included becoming a 32nd Degree Mason at the Sioux City Scottish Rite, being a member of the South Sioux City Eagles Club for over 25 years and supporting the local VFW.

Jack was predeceased by his parents, Arthur and Katherine Jessip; brothers, Doug, Gene, Bruce, and Elvon, and sisters Betty (Chamberlain), Vivian (Trobaugh), Joy (Meyers), and Eunice (Husk).

Surviving him are brothers, Clifford, Clark and Gale. He is also survived by son, Gary (Alice), and daughter, Nancy Olrech (John), grandson, Scott (Tara), and grandaughter, Stephanie Young; great-grandchildren Morgan, Kyle, Derek, and Brooke; and a host of nieces and nephews. From Rose's family, his significant companion for over 33 years, he is survived by her daughters, Linda Kriener (Dan), Bonnie Richardson, and Mary Hagan, and sons, Terry Hagan, and Ed Hagan; many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.