Funeral Details

A dear and special man who adored you all, with every part of his heart. He will be remembered with that laughing smile and the wonderful joy of "all things Jack". Sending you all our love and condolences.

Joanne and Jeff Burgess

My wife Ann and I are bereft about our friend Jack. I want to share my thoughts about this wonderful old man.The published obituary, which gives only the hard facts, is at the bottom of this page I loved Jack, he was part second father, part older brother. He was a very good listener, and he really cared about us, our welfare, our children and  our health. Jack heard all sorts of things from me, and when I asked, he would hesitate a minute to gather his thoughts and then offer advice. He was a very wise man.Jack came from the old West side of Chicago, in the 1930's when it was the 2nd largest Jewish neighborhood in the world, outside of Warsaw, Poland. His parents were immigrants, and they'd come from that corner of Hungary which held a group of (Hungarian) Chasidim. This may've influenced Jack, who attended a rabbinical yeshivah for a while. But there was a pressing economic need within the family to "mach a leben", make a living, so Jack dropped out. Then came the Korean War in the early 1950's and Jack was drafted. He served in the infantry, a plain foot slogging rifleman,  and Jack survived battle.(He may've been part of the Chosin Reservoir episode, a brutal 17 day engagement in freezing weather in which 30,000 United Nations soldiers held out against 120,000 troops of the Red Chinese Army).Jack wouldn't talk ,but snippets came out during our ten year friendship. Jack loved being a Jew. He was a mainstay of our shul, Or Simcha. He was a vital part of every service. He'd sit in the last row, and as it became harder for him to walk, he'd couldn't get up and parade around the shul, after we'd sung the "L'Chah Dodi" on Friday eve's to usher in Shabbos.  I cannot forget how he'd put on a brave smile every time our line of celebrants passed by. His pain was not going to stop Jack from enjoying Shabbos.Jack and I used to go to the Sephardic Shul on Howard Street, for morning prayers. He could no longer drive, he used a walker, so I took him. He always beckoned me

reuven robinson