Jack D. Thatch

Jan. 30, 1932 - April 1, 2016

Jack D. Thatch, 84, of Lovell, died April 1, 2016, at his home.[caption id="attachment_11111" align="alignright" width="219"] Jack D. Thatch[/caption]Jack was born in Lovell on Jan. 30, 1932, to Leroy and Alice Victoria Wilkerson Thatch.  He was the second of two boys. He enjoyed his childhood years growing up in Lovell. Jack attended school in Lovell and graduated from Lovell High School in 1950. He also attended Northwest Community College.Jack joined the Wyoming National Guard in April of 1950. He had been shot in the shoulder as a youth, and during a physical taken before most of his buddies were sent off to Korea, medical personnel found a bubble in an artery that was near where he was shot. He required some surgery to repair it so he was kept in the states until that was performed. He was sent to Europe in the spring of 1951 and spent most of his service time in Germany.Jack met Kaye Jameson in Lovell, where she was attending her brother Kirk’s baseball game. Jack was on Kirk’s team but had injured his foot and wasn’t playing. On Nov. 9, 1952, Jack married Kaye in Lovell. To their union six children were born.Jack was taught to work and had a job from the time he was in fifth grade.  He delivered the Lovell Chronicle for 5 cents a paper. He said he hoed beans by the acres in seventh grade. Ward Myers hired him when he was in eighth grade and he cleaned the mechanics shop and stocked shelves. He worked painting houses and buildings, also at the Cowley Canning Factory, he ruffnecked on the oil wells, worked on the railroad and worked for AT&T. He worked at the Ohio Refinery.  He worked on the power line from Yellowtail Dam back toward Lovell. He worked for Dick’s Well Service for a while. He worked at American Colloid for a time and then went to work for Georgia Pacific from 1969 until he retired.Jack loved hunting and fishing. He had many wonderful experiences in those activities. He loved sharing his catch with many in the community.He enjoyed growing a big garden and sharing it.Jack was proud of the fact that he spent 80 of his 84 years at four different addresses on Park Avenue in Lovell, a great place to grow up and raise a family.Jack enjoyed teaching most of his children and grandchildren to drive.Jack was preceded in death by his parents, his brother William R. “Bill” Thatch, grandsons Steven Lopez and Steve Muller and great-grandson Tragen Nielson.He is survived by his wife Kaye, children Rodger Kim and Chris Thatch, Mary Alice and Edward Ewart, Judy Kaye and Dan Lopez, John Thatch, Paul and Ronda Thatch and David and Sydra Thatch.The surviving grandchildren are Erin and Jody Thatch, Lacey Chamberlin, Mandy Nielson, Joslyn Tew, Levi Tew, Jennifer Muller, Amy Lopez, Jeffery Thatch, P.J. Thatch and Kennedy, Sadie, Bregelle and Jamison Thatch. He has 19 great-grandchildren and one on the way.Services were held on Wednesday, April, 6, 2016, at 2 p.m. at the LDS Stake Center in Lovell. Burial was in the Lovell Cemetery.