Jack L. Cherry

Jack Cherry, beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, and friend passed away on May 9, 2022, at age 89. Jack was born on October 2, 1932 and grew up in the Cumroe area northwest of Kearney. Jack, his sister, and parents moved from farm to farm during the tough years of the 1930’s, renting farmland and living in farm houses without indoor plumbing or electricity. Eventually his father purchased a farm when he was in 6th grade. Jack’s father was the first farmer in that area to dig an irrigation well as the water was found much deeper in that area than it was in the Kearney area and was much more challenging to reach. Jack went to Miller High School in Miller, Nebraska, played trumpet in the band and participated in high school sports. Jack’s first date with his wife, Dorothy, was to double-date with some friends to see the Christmas lights in Minden. After high school, Jack had several different jobs as jobs were plentiful at that time. One of his more interesting jobs was installing electrical service in the rural areas in Dawson County and then further west. He quit that job in the winter after climbing electrical poles coated with ice. He also did farm labor and worked for a well driller. Jack married the love of his life, Dorothy Saathoff, when he was 20 years old. Shortly after they married, he was drafted by the US Army. After boot camp, Jack was assigned to a new data processing school in Indiana for a couple of weeks to learn everything there was to know about computers in 1953. From there, he was assigned to a supply depot base in France, 50 miles south of Paris, which supplied foodstuffs and spare parts to all of Europe. The base was an old German munitions depot, where the men slept in tents with wooden floors. In the depot warehouse, every item had an inventory number on it and the 20-25 men on dad’s team would provide computer generated reports detailing how many of each item was sent out, and where the item was sent. These reports were boxed up every day and an army truck would arrive daily to transport the box of reports to the Army command center. After two years in the Army, Jack came back home to Miller, Nebraska, to see his daughter, Marcie, for the first time, as she had been born while he was overseas. Within a week of his homecoming, the family of three moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, as Lincoln had several employers who used computers and Jack could use his computer experience with the Army to begin his career in information technology. Jack lived in Lincoln for 39 years, working at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln Telephone Company, American Charter Bank, and BISYS Group as a computer operator and eventually as an information technology manager. He and his family attended the Berean Church and then the Evangelical Free Church in Lincoln. Jack and Dorothy moved to Sioux City for a few years and then once he retired, they moved to west Omaha in 1997. Jack’s memory will live on through his five children, Marcie, Brenda, Dorinda, Liz and John; eleven grandchildren, Kam, Kristen, Jordan, Joshua, Jonathan, James, Jacob, Stephanie, Valerie, Caleb, and Josiah; and six great-grandchildren, Justin, Miles, Maya, Soriyah, Anayah and Matthias. Jack loved his wife, Dorothy, who preceded him in death in 2016. Jack’s favorite thing to do was to spend time with family, whether it was water skiing at the lake when his kids were in high school, or eating out at Runza or Taco John’s with a grandchild in recent years. He left behind an example of a gentle man of integrity who loved his wife and family and lived out his faith in God every day in his patient and caring actions. Visitation: Sunday, May 22, 2022, from 2:00 - 4:00 pm at Braman Mortuary (Southwest Chapel). Celebration of Jack’s Life: May 23, 2022 at 10:00 am at Community Bible Church (90 & Q Street, Omaha). In lieu of flowers, memorials to the Community Bible Church.