He is a mild mannered family man, but one whose life has been filled with exciting events that most people of the world only read or dream about. As the youngest child in a family of 14 children bo...lihat lebih banyakHe is a mild mannered family man, but one whose life has been filled with exciting events that most people of the world only read or dream about. As the youngest child in a family of 14 children born in 1932, he spent the early years of his life on a farm near Vinita, Oklahoma. The extremely close family ties remained intact throughout the years.
He volunteered for the Army on June 11, 1950 at the beginning of the Korean War. He spent two tours of duty in Korea prior to his discharge in 1953.
In early 1951while in a hospital in Japan, a wounded soldier from the "187th Airborne" was placed in the bed next to him. The soldier, who was in his brother Troy’s Platoon, told him the unit had heavy casualties. Jack got an early release from the hospital and spent his convalescence leave searching Korea to find his brother who he feared had been killed. Luckily he found his brother alive and spent time with him. The events of the search and meeting were almost unbelievable.
He spent 25 years working in the oil exploration industry. He and his family spent ten+ years on International assignments before re-assignment to the Dallas headquarters of TI-GSI, his employer. He resigned from TI-GSI in 1976 since Gilley Properties Inc., the family business started in 1970 had grown to the point it required his full attention. It ultimately included six housing developments plus the home building business where he was company president. In 1996, a 2nd family business named Five-Star Industries Inc. was started and rapidly grew to number-2 size in the DFW area behind BFI.
Jack retired many years ago at the age of 55, but remained active in life. He and RENA have been married more than 56 years..lihat lebih sedikit