Jack Wesley Wilson, 82, of Muscatine passed away on Saturday, May 9th, surrounded by family at Simpson Memorial Home.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Muscatine County Fair Grounds, The Kent Center, 101 N. Clay St, West Liberty, Iowa, on Tuesday, May 12th from 2pm-6pm, followed by a memorial service at 6pm. Private family graveside services will be held at the Island Cemetery.

Jack was born on May 1, 1944, to Buck and Maryanna (Bohling) Wilson, during a snowstorm. He went to Hopewell School where he was the smallest boy in his class through junior high, then graduated from L-M High School after a huge growth spurt. He went to Muscatine Community College for 3 weeks, (In one door, and out the other, he always said), farming his entire life on the Muscatine Island with his family.

Jack married Janet Beatty on December 11, 1966, and together they raised three girls. Jack grew everything from potatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, pickles and pumpkins to corn and beans. These crops were labor intensive, so the entire family took part in maintaining the farm which included catching watermelons Jack, Buck and Jack’s brother, Don tossed at them during melon picking season.

Jack was naturally talented at fixing and building things. His mechanical skills kept many machines running for years longer than they probably should have, and he always had spare parts around the farm for all his “toys”. He spent much of his time keeping irrigation rigs running on sandy soil, which meant regularly checking fields on various three wheelers, side by sides, motorcycles and jeeps. He enjoyed farming for the last two decades with his nephew Greg Wilson and great nephew Nick Wilson.

Jack also enjoyed landscaping with large equipment, such as removing tree rows with his excavator, while Janet helped him by picking up sticks and clearing fields to farm. For enjoyment, they rode many places on their motorcycle, including trips to Maine and Oregon using an atlas as their guide. They also drove to Alaska, camping in their pick-up truck after harvest one year. They often took off driving and made brief stops along the way to see family, irrigation rigs, farm implements, and the scenery, and enjoyed seeing most all of the 50 states this way.

Jack was never a people-person but enjoyed a cup of coffee at Texaco with his farmer friends each morning. Many decisions were made, laughs were had, and information was exchanged, and it was what he missed the most when he moved to Simpson. He was able to celebrate his 82nd birthday last week with his coffee friends one last time.

We were lucky to have had this last year with Jack after his heart attack, and so many friends and family that came to see him in West Liberty. The staff at Simpson has been wonderful to Jack and he always felt very fortunate to have them caring for him. The family would like to sincerely thank everyone who has stopped in to visit and spend time with him, we are very blessed. Memorials made be made to Simpson Memorial Home and the Muscatine Island Church Food Pantry.

Jack is survived by Janet, and his daughters and their families, Pam and Mike Meyers, parents to Kelsey, Avery (Ashlee), Katie (Austin Chalupa) and Brent, Joan and Brian McCleary, parents to Elena and Owen, and Kim and Mark Staley parents to Charlie and Everly, and five great grandchildren, Bennett, Mason, Oliver, Linnea, and Crew. Jack is also survived by his siblings, Janice Birkhofer, Jo Wikel, Dick (Jackie) Wilson, and Linda (Gary) Sewell, sister-in-law, Teresa Wilson and also many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Charles (Buck) and Maryanna Wilson, his brother Don along with brothers-in-law Lyle Birkhofer and Ron Wikel.

Jack will always be remembered for his buck toothed smile, dimples, belly laugh and quick wit.