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Jack Repcheck Memories by Ann Talman et al.5/7/23 p.1

JACK REPCHECK January 13, 1957-October 14, 2015

Life, if well lived, is long enough. Lucius Annacus Seneca

I met Jack Repcheck in 5th grade at Streams Elementary School, Upper

St. Clair, Pittsburgh, PA. His family had just moved in from Mt. Lebanon. It

was 1967. The way he told it, he noticed me on the kickball field during

recess because, “Annie you were a killer at kickball!” (I guess I had the eye

of the tiger.) I played like a boy and was always picked first for his team

when Jack was Captain.

We went on to be classmates at Boyce Middle School where, truth be

told, he was one of the first boys I ever kissed, playing spin the bottle with:

Greg Hough, Kurt Radke, Jeff Thompson, Cindy Aspiotes, Lisa Galbreath,

Julie Bozzo and Leslie Christ. The game was interrupted when Mr. Aspiotes

drove up the circle drive in his painting truck, got out and started yelling for

Cindy. It was a close call.

We remained classmates all through grade school, middle school and high

school, the class of 1975. We followed each other to Penn State class of

1979. He was a history major and brother at Phi Psi. I was a theater major

and GDI! (Gosh Darn Independent)

We remained close all these years and when out of touch we merely

picked up the conversation where we left off. He was a groomsman in

weddings that I sang in including Jeff and Jocelyn Thompson.

When I stopped singing for a while from severe depression, Jack cheered

me on. “Annie, you gotta keep singing! You are good as those gals on

Broadway. Don’t give up.”

When Richard Hughes was in Manhattan on business, we three would

start off with a drink at The Four Seasons and then a fancy dinner

somewhere thanks to Richard whom only Jack called Dickie!


We also always caught up at our USC Class Reunions. I especially

remember our 20th at St. Clair Country Club in 1995. Jack was single again

for a while and came most especially to see Kathy Walsh whom he still had

a huge crush on. I called it his show-mance since he and Kathy were in the

musical The Fantastiks senior year. Unbeknownst to all but a few, Kathy

came to the reunion to say goodbye because she was ill. She was one of the

first of us to pass on.

Then the USC Alumni choir reunions began in 2012 and Jack and I grew

even closer. He was a part of the 2013 Christmas Choir Reunion Concert at

St. Thomas More church and our July 2015 reunion and concert in our high

school auditorium. Right after the concert he came up to me and whispered,

“Hey Annie. You were holding back on your solo at the dress rehearsal

today weren’t you?” I admitted I was. Then he said, “I knew it. But you hit it

outta the park tonight! Good job!”

It was the last time most of us saw him and we will remember him

beaming because he was singing, playing his guitar, being social director

and leading the sing-alongs til 2 in the morning. He even charmed the

manager of the Crown Plaza for a case of wine, extra beer and a move to the

lower lobby where we were able to continue singing into the early morning

and not wake the other guests.

We have that on video on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/100005457241919/videos/382852581906647/

He led us the night before in his favorite songs including the ones sung at

his memorial and his all time fave, Wagonwheel!

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/cajackman/videos/

vb.1636632927/10206732876633988/?type=2&theater


Jack was looking forward to our Class of 75 Reunion in Pittsburgh this past

September, 2015 and up until he got sick was planning the next round of

sing-alongs with Chris Regan Rause. A group of us were poised to skip the

reunion to meet in New Hope to visit him at the hospital but Jack seemed to

rally a bit and his doctors asked for no visitors so he could rest. But we were

thrilled that Jack’s Irish Twin, Kevin, joined us and filled in.

But wait! There’s more! My future husband Dr. Charles Holt knew Jack

before he met me in 2001. That’s right. Jack was the editor of my future

husband’s first book on Experimental Economics. Charlie loves the story of

how he talked on the phone to this firecracker of a guy at Princeton Press on

a Wednesday, pitched his idea for the book, and the next day Jack was in his

office in Charlottesville, VA with a contract.

I met Charlie in August 2001. On one of our first real dates we were

having lunch at a conference in Boston and talking about books we had

written. I mentioned I had a childhood friend in publishing and Charlie was

mentioning his editor at Princeton. At the same time we shouted, JACK

REPCHECK????!!!!!

I couldn’t wait to tell Jack who I was dating and he wrote me, “Annie you

are dating a rock star in economics! Really! He’s da man!”

Jack and “Dickie” attended our wedding in Charlottesville,

Thanksgiving 2004.

Jack and Charlie were working on their next book at Norton when Jack

fell ill. Charlie mentioned in early September, “Huh? I emailed Jack last

week about the book and I haven’t heard back from him. That is strange and

not like him at all.” That day a friend alerted us that he was in hospital.

Kevin kept us USC folks in the text loop daily throughout Jack’s ordeal.

We were so grateful that he had the energy to keep us informed under so


much stress. We were all planning trips to visit Jack as soon as we were

allowed and my Acela ticket was bought for Thursday morning October 15th.

But as we all know Jack left us on the evening of the 14th surrounded by his

family, loved ones and of course, music.

As I was in the huge room at the beautiful memorial on Sunday October

18th, I wanted to take it all in and try to remember as much as possible to

share with those unable to attend. The pictures everywhere from all phases

of Jack’s life. the memorabilia, the posters, class pictures, the videos, the

receiving line out the door and all the way to the street. As you walked in to

the funeral home it appeared they had to combine two rooms into one big

one to hold us all. The line wrapped around the perimeter of the room and as

you made your way you were able to see all the displays that lined the walls.

It was stunning.

Many of us had also filled Facebook with our pictures and videos of Jack.


Jeff Thompson Ann Talman Jack Repcheck Choir Reunion Performance

July 18th 2015


Annie - here is a pic from feb 2014 - dinner in Northville, Michigan. From: Repcheck, Jack Sent: Monday, February 24, 2014 10:14 AMTo: Hughes, Richard; [email protected]: These guys are holding up pretty good... Hey Dicky and Kurt, GREAT seeing the two of you last week! It had been too long since the last time the three of us got to hang alone! Hope to do it again soon. These photos came out pretty good! Jack


In my effort to take it all in and relay it I was able to get copies of two of the

eulogies. In the days following that Sunday I made notes of anything I could

remember from the speakers. I will insert the eulogies here and then in bullet

form share as many moments as I can from the memorial.

Comments in memory of Jack Repcheck. October 18, 2015

It is an honor to be asked to speak in Jack’s memory today and even more so

to be invited to do so by Donna, who stood by him so courageously in his

last precious weeks with us.

When I think of Jack, I think of three things: he was a loving friend, he was

an extraordinary editor, and he was an absolutely maddening travel

companion. The turnout here today of his colleagues, friends, and family

attests to the love and respect we have for him, but you have to have spent

time on the road with Jack, as I did, to know just how crazy he could drive

you as a fellow traveler. A trip that we made together some 20 years ago,

when we both worked as editors at Princeton University Press, makes the

point just as it makes me smile.

Jack and I had been working together for about a year at the Press when we

decided to make a trip jointly to Northern California one November for a

few days calling at Stanford and for the PUP sales meeting shortly

thereafter, then held in Berkeley.

Excited as I was about hitting the road with my friend and colleague, doubt

began to creep into the picture when I asked Jack where he wanted to stay in

Palo Alto, and he answered by saying that he didn’t make hotel reservations

when he traveled. His MO was to show up at his destination and drive from

motel to motel until he found a room. Now, I’m not a particularly finicky

traveler, but I do like to have some assurance that when I spend five hours


crossing the country I’ll be staying in a lodging that charges by the day, not

by the hour. So I drew myself up and reserved rooms for us at the Sheraton

right off campus at Stanford. I went the extra yard to reserve us a rental car

as well because Jack had mentioned that he didn’t do that in advance either.

Jack and I would travel together, but we would do so on my terms, or so I

thought.

My nervousness returned the day of our trip. Jack had booked us on a mid-

afternoon flight from Philadelphia to give us as much time as possible at the

office that day. He had offered to drive, and I suggested that we leave

Princeton at 11, which would give us plenty of time to get to the airport,

have lunch, and relax before our flight left. At 11 o’clock Jack came to my

office, told me he needed more time, and suggested that we leave at noon.

No problem. At noon, I swung by to pick him up, and he asked for more

time. Grudgingly, I agreed. So about quarter to 1, I finally pried him away

from the office, and we jumped into his car. We were on our way. Or so I

thought.

As I looked around Jack’s car, a station wagon, I became suspicious. I asked

him where his suitcase was, and he said that we had to stop at his house to

pick it up. So much for lunch at the airport. Jack was living by himself in a

condo at the time, and when we got to his house, he proceeded to pack his

bag. Packing for Jack consisted of taking a pile of laundry from the top of

his kitchen table—mostly Penn State sweat shirts and T-shirts—and

transferring it, along with about ten issues of Scientific American—to a red

leather Samsonite suitcase, which he claimed had been given to him by his

uncle.


The sentimental suitcase sorted, I began to calm down knowing that our next

stop was Philadelphia International Airport, about an hour away. I was

wrong again. Jack had to make a quick swing by the ATM to pick up some

cash. So we did that, only to discover that his checking account was low on

funds. Immediately I agreed to spot him a couple hundred dollars, if only to

ransom the rest of the trip.

As we pulled out of the bank’s ATM lane, Jack flashed a big smile, and

declared that we were on our way—after we stopped for gas. My heart sank.

Six minutes later, we pulled into the gas station, and Jack asked me if I

wanted to drive. Not only did I agree instantly, I offered to pay for the gas if

only to assert some control over what was starting to feel like the trip to

nowhere. Jack thanked me and then his eyes lit up. He told me if I drove,

he could reorganize some files he had stored in the back of his car. Yes,

Jack stored files in his car. So he crawled into the back seat of his station

wagon, and as I pulled out of the gas station onto US 95 South, he started to

transfer files from one box to another.

As incongruous a scene as this was, I was happy again, exceeding the speed

limit only slightly on my way to the airport. California, here we come!

I drove cheerfully and Jack reorganized his files intently until we passed the

Philadelphia Navy Yard a few miles short of the airport. Then I felt

something odd and told Jack that I thought we might have a flat tire. When

we reached the exit to the airport, I pulled off the road, Jack got out of the

car, confirmed that we were traveling on three good tires, but only three, and

took the wheel for the last stretch of the drive.


When we got to the airport we dumped the car (files and all), and raced to

catch the flight. No lunch, no leisure, no margin of error, but we made it.

After we arrived at the San Francisco airport, I breathed easily because we

were finally back on Dougherty Time. Hertz had the car I had reserved.

The Sheraton had the rooms I had booked, and all was well. A few minutes

after settling into my room, the phone rang. It was Jack. “Pete, my man, (it

was always “Pete”) how ‘bout some dinner?” I was hungry and so swiftly

took Jack up on his good, if surprisingly conventional, suggestion. When I

stopped by his room to pick him up, I discovered that he had recreated his

condo in the hotel: sweat garments arrayed on one bed, Scientific Americans

on the other.

We drove down the road outside Stanford and found a big, bright Mexican

restaurant, perfect for our purposes. After a couple beers as we tucked into

our main course, Jack, flashing that big grin of his, offered his judgment:

“Pete, my man, these are the best enchiladas we’re ever had, right?” “Right,

Jack, they’re great.”

Back at the Sheraton, as we were about to board the elevator, out of the

corner of my eye I noticed the lobby Christmas tree, the first sign of the

season. I smiled. It was Christmas in California, I had just finished the

world’s best enchilada, and I was traveling with my best colleague and

buddy. Then I turned to Jack and asked him when his first appointment was

at Stanford the next day, and when he wanted to get together for breakfast.

He replied that he didn’t make appointments, and that he didn’t eat

breakfast.

We were back on Repcheck Time. And, oh, what a time it was.

Thank you. Peter J. Dougherty Princeton Press


Donna called on Thursday afternoon and asked if I would represent the Norton part of Jack’s life at this service. There are a number of speakers, she said, so keep it fairly brief. That directive was a serious challenge when I thought of all the ways Jack enriched our amazing, employee-owned firm over his nearly 17 years. I met Jack in early 1997 when he was very happily working at Princeton University Press. And after that first dinner I understood why Drake McFeely had suggested I meet him, he had said he thought we would really hit it off. We did, and that night I knew I wanted to get Jack to Norton one day. We stayed in touch, dining together from time to time, and in December 1998 Jack joined Norton’s College Department to work in the fields of Geology and the life sciences, later moving over into anthropology and then Economics full-time where he has been for almost a decade. The life of an editor fit Jack perfectly. As an editor, you learn the essential aspects of a field, travel the country talking to top scholars and great teachers trying to figure out where the field is going and what are the publishing opportunities. Jack loved meeting a prospective author, planting the seed of a book idea, and then following up over the course of months, and sometimes even years, until he got the answer he wanted. He also loved closing the door of his office and working on a manuscript to create a book that would get a generation of kids excited about his discipline. He believed that we at Norton did important work by helping top scholars and teachers refine their considerable talents in ways necessary to reach tens of thousand of students across the globe. And once the book was out, he loved traveling with the sales and marketing staff to make sure his books succeeded. Jack was a great colleague to so many. He had a remarkable combination of old-school gentlemanliness (always wearing a tie and sports coat to our bi-weekly editorial meeting or when presenting at the sales conference), youthful enthusiasm, broad intellectual curiosity, wisdom that comes only with experience, and a crazy amount of energy. Ann Shin, our Editorial Director, went through all his project files a few weeks ago and determined he has 25 active projects.


Always my dear friend, but twice a year we went out to dinner where I was his boss reviewing his priorities and setting goals for the coming semester. I am sure you can imagine a guy with 25 projects did need refocusing from time to time. I usually sent him in advance the questions or topics I wanted to discuss. He always took these dinners very seriously, came prepared, and when after talking about ways he could handle something better, he was always so gracious. “You are doing your job, we gotta keep the lights on”, and would almost always end by saying “I’m on it”. And more often than not, he would come in the next morning to thank me “for kicking his butt” and telling me how energized he felt because of our conversation. So many people in the world define themselves by all the things they don’t like, never expressing unalloyed enthusiasm for much of anything, not Jack. By wearing all his interests and passions pretty much on his sleeve, he was completely unapologetic about his full range of interests. When the Steelers won the Superbowl he came into my office and said he wanted pay for a celebratory party in the Norton office at 4 the following Friday. I said this is NYC who else cares that the Steelers won? He said “probably no one, but I do, and I don’t know when this will happen again, there needs to be a party.” I also think back to a sales conference in Scottsdale, AZ in 2013 where, for the very first time, we had a DJ after bonus night. It was a festive night, Norton was thriving, and many of the sales reps had done well. The music began and Jack is the first one on the dance floor and stayed there the entire two and a half hours just beaming. The average age of those on the dance floor was probably 30, but I soon joined in. He danced over towards me and yelled in my ear, “I have been bugging Mike to do this for years. This is the happiest day of my professional life.” I remember so clearly thinking, really? But then I thought, Jack has many happiest nights in his happy life. As the evening wore on Jack continued to beam, and twice more our paths crossed. The first time he put his arm over my shoulder and said “look what you folks have built, feel the energy. Still I can’t believe I get to work at a place with so many great people.” The last conversation I remember that night was pure Jack. “Watch out for that new LA rep, I am tellin’ you she has “Eye of the Tiger”. Jack loved spotting and nurturing young talent, and there was no greater complement from Jack than having Eye of the Tiger.


We do have a great group of people in the college department with diverse skills and interests. Julia Reidhead and I often talk about the balance in our ecosystem. Things have been nicely balanced for a good stretch now with most people’s jobs well-aligned with their strengths and interests. An essential force in that system was Jack, universally liked and respected, he was part of the glue that holds everything together, whether it was being the old guy on the softball team who the next morning emailed a full account of the game for all who did not attend, mentoring young editors, cheering other colleagues’ successes, or teaching us all how to advocate for our authors and our lists. We have had a huge hole punched in that ecosystem. He is irreplaceable, but I know there are many in this room who are going to do everything in their power to honor Jack, help the ecosystem heal and rebalance, and make sure the books he cared so much about continued to thrive. Wednesday night I was out to dinner in Cambridge with a college author who eight months ago sent me a proposal for a trade book. Like many proposals that get submitted, it was more a bag of ideas. I was heading out on a long trip and, since Jack knew the author, I dropped the proposal on his desk and asked him to have a look. Within 48 hours, Jack sent a really smart email pointing out what seemed original in the proposal, what was distracting, and how it could be reframed. On Wednesday that author, who did get a trade contract with us, and I raised a glass to Jack and I returned to my hotel room where I got Donna and Kevin’s texts that Jack had died. I sat down to write the final email to a massive friends of Jack list, some of whom I had never met but nonetheless had bonded with over email based on our mutual affection for Jack. I pushed the send button and laid back to grieve. And almost immediately the emails starting coming—these amazing, wrenching emails often starting with “I loved Jack” or “Jack and I had a special relationship”, and they continued to come in throughout the night and with each one I cried a bit more. By Thursday night they had stopped coming and I reflected on the outpouring. I have a fun job and have had the privilege to work with and get to know so many nice and interesting people, but I thought, do I know anyone more beloved in the world? I do not, I even clicked open my contacts and scrolled through just to make sure I was not forgetting some saint somewhere. Jack drew people to him because first and foremost he was good to the core. His generous


spirit seemed to have an almost infinite capacity to embrace all those with whom he came in contact. I will close with that very short email I sent out Wednesday night:With a broken heart, I report our dear friend died peacefully tonight at 8:32 surrounded by his family. When I think of that wonderful family, his legion of friends, the great books he has published, the wonderful books he has written, his music, and his exuberance for so much more, his was a life well-lived. I have never known a more good and decent man than Jack, how I wish we all could have more time with him. The wonderful Donna and Jack are good friends of the entire Harrington family, and Matthew wants to speak very briefly about that. From Kevin Repcheck:

Hi, I’m Jack’s brother, Kevin. Just to complete the story started by the Pastor, Jack was so smitten by Donna that while they were walking on that path, he ignored his surroundings and walked straight into a light pole. True story.

It is my honor to say a few words about Jack. As you all know, he had such a great approach to life. He was always positive and upbeat. I described it as “enthusiastic optimism”. Jack and I are Irish Twins – we were both born in 1957, Jack in January and me in December….my poor Mom. 1957 was the peek year for the Baby Boom so there were tons of kids our age in the neighborhood. Playdates did not exist back then, but I always had an automatic playmate. He was also my roommate for 17 years and we were partners in crime. We had a great childhood. Jack and I learned many thing together. When he was 9 and I was 8, we did something that we both knew would get us in big trouble…so we took action. My Mother had taken one of those paddles that had the red ball attached to a rubber band and would use it


to paddle us every now and then since we were getting too big. One time, Jack saw where she hid it. We decided that we should steal it before she could find it, and to make sure she didn’t find it, we set out to hide in our bedroom and barricade the door with our dresser and anything else we could find. We were determined to wait it out all day and we did. Well, I learned 3 things from day from Jack. One, Be Bold and Take Action. Two, Plan with more attention to detail….we should have picked a bedroom that also had a bathroom. And Three, if you make your parents laugh, you don’t get in trouble.We were rolling along as kids and our brother Randy came along and became another playmate, although he was often cast as the bad guy while Jack and I were the hero. You may not know this, but Jack’s favorite super hero was the Green Hornet. I was his trusty driver Kato, and Randy was always the villain. We still feel bad about that. So we had this “guy” thing going on in the house thought that was pretty cool. Then my Mom was expecting again and we just assumed that we’d get another brother. Our neighbor came running out of the house one day to tell us excitedly that our Mom had just had a little girl and that we now had a sister. We didn’t quite have the same reaction, but with our sister Carolyn, we learned something. Having a sister is really neat and having a girl in the family was a big bonus. This turned out to be really important, since of the 5 Repcheck kids, some of us have sons, but all of us have daughters.We moved to another community when my sister Diane was born in 1967 because we needed a bigger house. Again the neighborhood was crawling with kids and we were constantly playing pick-up games, especially football on a field, which this being Pittsburgh, wasn’t quite level. We drove our Mother crazy with all of the mud. Jack was always sort of the magnet that made our house frequently the meeting place and my friends and I benefited from that. Nothing but great memories from that


time.Jack was always the trailblazer for the rest of the kids in the family. He was the first to have First Communion (where I learned that there is money involved, but only for the guy going through it – tough lesson for me - weird I know) as well as the first to Drive, Graduate High School and then College, Join a fraternity, Get Married and have Kids. He made it all look so easy. He also made it harder for the rest of us because he always got good grades and was never getting into any trouble.Eventually, Jack became Uncle Jack and 13 of my parents’ grandchildren called him that. Of all of the other uncles, myself included, he was clearly known as the “Fun Uncle”. He was always in motion. He would play with every kid and toss a football, baseball, Frisbee or whatever the kid at that point in time was into. He would come to Pittsburgh to watch the Steelers in the Super Bowls just because that was the place he had to be. He and Donna would often stay with us when he came to visit, but all of my siblings and their families would offer to put them up. Realistically, it didn’t matter who he stayed with, because the minute he hit town, he would visit for 20 minutes and then bolt off to see my sisters or parents or friends. My visits with him were usually 30 minutes over coffee in the morning and 30 minutes over a good Scotch at night. Those will be my lasting memories. No doubt Jack was well loved. The large number of you in this room is a testament to that. All of you will think back on Jack with a smile. All of you called Jack a good friend. Heck, half of you call Jack your best friend. Quite a legacy.

Postscript:When Donna asked me to say a few words, I was under the impression that I was to cover mostly Jack growing up. Had I


known that no one was really covering life in Newtown, I would have added a few things, especially Jack’s relationship with Donna (his nickname for her truly was Angel) and his girls. Jack and Donna had a very special relationship and his devotion to her was unwavering. They were true soul mates. As a brother watching from a distance, it was so good to see Jack so happy.Jack absolutely adored his daughters. He had a wonderful yet different relationship with each of them. He never expressed anything but pride when sharing with me what everyone was up to and I am sure that his legacy will burn brightly in each of them.My regret is that I did not cover this in my remarks. Also, I delivered this using notes and then typed it up a few weeks later. Pretty sure I captured at least 90% of it.

Kurt Radke (USC Class of 75) spoke. He had no notes. So - he wrote down what he said at the service - and included the laugh track as well!

Donna asked me to speak today about when Jack and I were kids. She did not define "kids" exactly so I'll share a couple of stories from two different time periods when we were "kids".

It's 1967. Think back to that time. 1967. I'm in 5th grade. Attending Streams Elementary School in a cozy little suburb called Upper St. Clair. It's recess time. And I am playing four-square. Remember four-square? And I meet Jack Repcheck there - playing four-square at recess. I recall very clearly that as we played Jack was singing a song called "New Green Cans". Perhaps it was one of his own creation because I have never heard of it since! It was also, perhaps, the beginning of Jack's love of singing and performing.


I recall as well that as I got to know Jack more that year at school he said he was Catholic. My background is Lutheran. At that point in my life I don't think I had met too many Catholic folk. As I got to know Jack more I decided that if he were Catholic then Catholics must be a good bunch!

Move forward in time now to high school years. Still kids I suppose! As Kevin mentioned about their yard on Hidden Timber always busy with activity- there was always something going on outside our house on Southwood. Our side yard was huge so some sports activity was always happening there and Jack was frequently there. In addition to the sports Jack would often stay for Sat night pizza. We had pizza every sat night and our friends were always welcome. What made the pizza (and the time) even better was that we could have a beer also when we were 15 or 16. My folks were always there! And yes I understand that that could not take place today!! The festivities were good definitely.

My family is very musical. My mother plays the piano as do I. All of us sing - 3 brothers, 1 sister - dad, mom. My dad has an excellent voice. We had an upright piano in the basement and we would frequently go down to sing after pizza and beer.My dad's ethnic background is German and Bohemian. He had a songbook which was a collection of old Bohemian folk songs (which I now have and treasure). One of the songs in the book is called "Here's to Old Bohemia". It's a wonderful, stirring anthem. Jack loved it. My dad would sing the adagio part with great passion. A classic! When Jack was studying in Madison, Wisconsin doing his Masters work we would write letters (remember letters?) and he'd write "Here's to Old Bohemia" in the return address spot.

That was Saturday evenings. Jack was a happy guy in general.


Clare and Jack (I looked at Jack's parents in the front row) - if Jack came home those evenings EXTRA happy - now you know why!

Being with Jack always lifted me up. He was a very active guy and positive which i truly appreciated. I'm prone to depression and always enjoyed just being with Jack. Roby mentioned Jack's "youthful enthusiasm" earlier. So true. I hope I have some left!

I received a bit of a shock yesterday when I was talking with some people here - some classmates from USC. We were talking about what a great friend Jack was - and one of the group said this -"Jack had the ability to make you feel as if you were his best friend". I said - "wait a minute - I am!". We all laughed. Ok. Ok. Raise your hand today if you were one of Jack's best friends. (About 10 hands go up! Laughter! ). Oh my lord! Ok - listen now - I AM! I am Jack's best friend. (More laughter - including me!!). I'd like to think that I was one of Jack's best friends. Or that I am!. And yet - what I am - what I am - is grateful. I am grateful. Jack Repcheck was a blessing to me. Truly a blessing to me for virtually all of my life. I am grateful.

I know I will see Jack again. I know it.

When I got home from Jack’s memorial I wrote down some moments that

took my breath away.

When Jack’s Three Daughters spoke:

Jack loved his daily commute to Norton from Bucks County. One trip

his daughter rode home with him. As they got off the train, there was

a man asking for money. Jack slipped him a bill. His daughter said,

“Dad, you can’t give everyone money like that.” Jack smiled and

replied, “I know. He’s my guy.”


The girls spoke of many examples of how to all their friends Jack was

known as The Coolest Dad Ever.

When his daughter got a job in Manhattan often Jack would take her

to lunch on Fridays in Bryant Park, Jack brought his brown bag from

home and treated her.

One of my favorites was how when they were little girls and could not

sleep, Jack had found the perfect perch on the landing of their house

where all three could see him. He lovingly read to them sitting there.

Jack and his daughter were having lunch with her new boss. When she

returned from the powder room, Jack was getting her boss’s cell

number, “In case I ever can’t get a hold of my daughter.”

Kevin Repcheck

Kevin reminisced about being Jack’s Irish Twin 11 months apart both

born in 1957. Jack was Class of 75 and Kevin, Class of 76

Kevin explained The Paddle. Remember those wooden paddles with

the red ball attached on a rubber string that we Baby Boomers spent

countless hours playing with? Kev. told of the day he and Jack

barricaded themselves in the bedroom they shared to avoid it being

used on their bottoms, but forgot there was no way to get to the

bathroom. The take away-make your parents smile and they don’t

have the heart to punish you!

Told the story of the day Jack was walking down the street in New

Hope, passed Donna and was hit by The Thunderbolt. He turned

around and went up to her and introduced himself. The rest is history.

Oh and Jack was so taken that he had also walked right into a sign

post.

Jack’s Pastor:


Took a poll. “How many of you in this room consider yourself Jack’s

best friend?” There was a show of hands…. Everyone!

That last Monday night October 12th, when he said goodbye to Jack

after a visit in the hospital, Jack smiled and said, “I’ll be fine.”

Richard “Dickie” Hughes told this hilarious story at our Class of 75 Reunion

in September 2015.

Richard and I were originally from Birmingham, Alabama and our

fathers worked for US Steel. When our mothers landed in Pittsburgh

because their husbands were promoted to corporate headquarters, they

immediately joined The Southern Club. And the big event was the

Annual Southern Club Snow Ball at The Allegheny Club where the

young Debutants were presented. Richard’s mother was very involved

and helped round up the young men who would escort the ladies at the

event. So of course Jack Repcheck and also Jeff Thompson were

recruited. This was a black tie big deal. The evening was going

beautifully. Dessert was being served and Jack momentarily excused

himself to the men’s room. Unbeknownst to Jack, a Yankee, the full

orchestra was just about to start up the long standing tradition of the

Snow Ball. All rose and put their hands over their hearts, to tearfully

sing along to, DIXIE! As Jack returned to the table in shock, having

never seen anything quite like it, he sidled up to Richard and

whispered in his ear, “Dickie! What the @#$%())*&^%%$$ is this!

Are you people nuts?!”


Mr. Gielas posted this picture of Jack from 1975.


When asked to tell the story behind it Mr. Gielas said:

“I walked into the choir room after our 1975 May SpringConcert to put some

music away. The room was empty but for Jack and I took this picture. Then I

wanted to be sure he was all right. I asked him: ‘Jack are you OK?’ and he

looked up and said, ‘I’m fine Mr. G. I just can’t leave yet.’ “

*At the memorial where they printed 500 programs and soon ran out, the

USC class of 75 was represented by:

Ann Talman

Richard Hughes

Steve Cerveris

Chris Regan Rause

Patty Newman Hahn

Phillip (Flip) Kearney

Chris Lawrence

Ken Smith

Greg Laderer

David Dye

Don Huffner ‘76

Holly Flynn Lawrence 76

Connie Endres Devlin 76


Jackisms:

“Eye of the Tiger!”

“You know it!”

“Seize the day!”

“Be part of the solution.”

“You da man!”

“Let life come to you.”

“Where’s the party?”

“Sleep is overrated.”

“Paa-tience”

“Every day gets better and better.”

“That’s the best ___________ on the planet.”

“I’m on it!”


Kurt Radke, Steve Cerveris at Memorial 10/18/2015


Steve Cerveris, Kevin Repcheck, Kurt Radke at Memorial 10/18/2015


Steve Cerveris, Chris Regan, Kevin Repcheck, Kurt Radke 10/18/2015


Choir Reunion 2013

Patty Newman Hahn, Chris Regan Rause, Howard Johnson, Steve Cerveris,

Mr. Gielas, Jeff Thompson, Ann Talman, Barbara Spotz, Jack Repcheck


One of Jack's fraternity brothers was driving to the lunch following the

service and had this car right in front of him the whole way, except when it

was time to turn into the driveway. He took a picture of it when he realized

that it did not belong to anyone associated with the service. There are at

least 8 million vehicles registered in PA and what are the odds that this

one would be right there on that day after they had just made a big deal

about the song. It even has a Penn State License plate holder. Pretty cool

huh?

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