Jack Calvin Sweek

Jack Sweek, 89, died April 15, 2014, surrounded by the family he loved. A sudden illness caught Jack off guard just three weeks ago, and he did not have the reserves to fight it. Jack now sleeps without pain or Parkinsons in the arms of the God he honored and served all his life.

Jack was born June 26, 1924, to Judge Calvin Lawrence Sweek and Pearl Hawthorne Sweek, and was a brother to Marie, all having predeceased him. He graduated from PHS in 1941 and attended Oregon State College and the University of Oregon, pledging Sigma Nu, before joining the Army to serve in WWII as a medic. Enrolled in the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he met Gene in 1945. The story goes that three girls were to be the blind dates of three soldiers, and were sitting on the front porch of a house when the three men arrived. There was a car in front, and all Jack saw was himself behind the wheel. So the quick thinker he was, he asked which girl owned the car. Gene spoke up, and he said, Then youre my date. Two months later they were married.

Jack was a charter member of the VFW, a Mason, and served as the Worthy Patron of the Long Creek Lodge of the Eastern Star. He was Exalted Ruler of the Pendleton Elks Lodge from 1967-1968, starting the Emblem Club and the Christmas Shopping for Children, both continuing to this day. In 1972, Jack was elected president of the Oregon State Elks Association, the only OSEA president to come from Pendleton. Jacks service to the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer included serving as lay reader, acolyte director, basketball team coach, Sunday school teacher and visitor of the sick.

In 1964 Jack won the Milton-Freewater Pioneer Posse Rodeo, and was awarded a belt buckle that he would wear for the rest of his life. The buckle and Jacks life were featured in a two-page spread in the Oregonian in 2011. Jack was truly honored to be selected as Pendletons Man of the Year in 1994, and in 1998 when chosen by the Main Street Cowboys as Tenderfoot of the Year. Probably Jacks proudest achievement was when he was inducted into the Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame in 2001. Besides working with the Native American racing teams, Jack was most proud of leading the grand entry, carrying the American flag and jumping the fences, and racing around the track at full speed. A calf roper, he entered the Round-Up event many times, along with the mayhem and trampling of the wild cow milking.

He was very proud of his children and their accomplishments: Larry the athlete, track coach and property manager, Teresa the nurse, author and parliamentarian, and Tim the cowboy, poet and pilot. He seemed to only scold them if they didnt hang the tinsel on the Christmas tree one strand at a time.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Gene; his children Larry (Marsha), Teresa Stone (Eric) and Tim; his devoted grandchildren Eric (Chanda) Stone and Corey (Genny) Stone, Jeni Mitchell (Keny), Tanner Jack Sweek and Courtney Carter (Bret); and great-grandchildren Rylea Olsen, Lexi and Justice Craig, Gaelyn and Eric Tuck Stone and Brandon Carter.

Jack Calvin Sweek loved going for early morning coffee and doing the crossword puzzle, from the top left corner down. He was devoted to his beloved Ducks, the Round-Up, the Episcopal Church, Pendleton and its people, but most of all he loved his wife, children and grandchildren. And they knew it.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Round-Up Grounds on Tuesday, April 22, 2014, at 2:00 p.m., service at Olney Cemetery at 3:00 p.m. followed by a get-together at the Elks Lodge.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be given to the Elks Lodge #288.

Online condolences may be sent to www.pioneerchapel.com.