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The son of Frank and Ellen Hackman Plunkett, Jack was born on July 16, 1931 in Harrison,
In his youth, he had a magazine delivery route, a newspaper route, raised pigeons, caddied often, and set pins in a bowling alley. He graduated Harrison High School at age 16 because of the Great Depression when his father lost his home. He was an Eagle Scout with three Palms and was awarded the Order of the Arrow.
Jack graduated from Clarkson College with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering at the age of 20, again because of the Great Depression, and was commissioned as a Reserve 2nd Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers on June 1,1952. He was a member of the fraternity Lambda Iota (later Delta Upsilon). Upon graduation he had a goal of writing a simple math book for engineers, but that never worked out.
He reported to active duty at Fort Belvoir, VA, on July 7, 1952. He exercised his DMG [Distinguish Military Graduate] for Regular Army, which was back-dated to his 21st birthday. Jack served in France and then as a Platoon Leader in Germany with the 5th and 1st Infantry Divisions. Later he served in Kansas, Colorado, and in the Washington, D.C. area.
On October 16-17,1953 at Charny, France, he married Cynthia “Tinny” A. Ellis, daughter of Elmon Ellis and Imogene Burtis. Jack first met Tinny in December 1950, 71 years ago, when Tinny was a student of Potsdam State Teachers College.
Jack continued his education graduating with a Master’s Degree in soils engineering with a minor in nuclear engineering from Iowa State College at Ames. He also attended the Engineer Advanced Course, the Command and General College, and the Army War College.
Next Jack was assigned to Air Force Intelligence doing targeting work. He was a Company Commander in Korea with the 76th Engineers. After returning to Washington, he was assigned to the Army Nuclear Power Program and was later the Assistant Exec. to the Chief of Engineers and then Assistant Exec, to the Director of Civil Works. Then he was assigned as a Battalion Commander of the 93rd Engineer Construction Battalion in Vietnam and followed that with time at the Engineering School at Fort Belvoir, VA. Later he was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon.
After his time at the Pentagon, as an Army Corps of Engineers Colonel, Jack was assigned to the Panama Canal as Director of Engineering and Construction Bureau and was there for 18 years. He was the last American Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal. He retired in November 1980 from the Army after 30 years of service and took a Federal Civil Service position in the same job at the same desk for the next 12 years.
After 41 years in the work force, Jack finally retired for good in January 1993 and moved to in Niceville, FL, where he enjoyed specializing in dog herding and agility and researching genealogy.
He attributes his accomplishments to the Great Depression, WWII, his high school teachers and peers, and fraternity peers — especially his WWII peers — and his devoted wife and family.
He is survived by his wonderful wife of 68 years, Tinny, daughters Cynthia Clarbour, Jacqueline Ospina, and Imogene Pierce and three wonderful sons-in-law, seven grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter as well as one dog “Johnnie” and nine birds. He was predeceased by two sons Cary and John, his brother Frank, a nephew, and his parents.
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