Jack Dean Easley

Jack Dean Easley died peacefully in his sleep Friday February 3rd 2017 at his home in Palmer Alaska. On December 23,2016, he turned 95. Born in Vandalia, Illinois in 1921 he decided a long time ago there would be no memorial service. His wife Harriet Cox died the same month seven years ago and his ashes will be spread with hers continuing as they planned to be together forever. They met in 7th grade in Springfield Illinois, graduated from high school together, married in June of 1944 and spent 65 years raising their family and traveling the world.

Jack’s history is incredible. It started in high school when he lied about how old he was so he could join a real horse cavalry. He served as a Corporal in the Machine Gun squad of a rifle troop. Even though he wasn’t legally old enough to be in the service he received an Honorable Discharge from the 106th Cavalry Troop F, 33rd Division of the Illinois National Guard.

In 1939, he worked as an electrician at Camp Bowie in Brownwood Texas and then joined the USA Corp of Engineers (USED) and worked on the Mississippi River. His brother Ned sent him a $90 ticket on the Matsonia Ocean Liner in 1940 to Hawaii where he helped wire some of the huge cannons mounted on hills around the islands.

When the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 Jack was working on the Pioneer Expedition at Canton Island, 1690 miles south of Hawaii. He and his brother took their 250 construction crew men in two tug boats and a big garbage barge and headed for Pago Pago, American Samoa. They ended up in New Caledonia where they built two air strips on the northern end of the island at Plaines de Guiac with 400 Japanese indentured laborers.

In 1942 he took the Army Air Corps Cadet Exam in Honolulu so he could start flight training on the Mainland. He graduated from the flight school at Blackland Army Base in Waco Texas the same year he married Harriet who graduated from St. Luke’s School of Nursing in Chicago.

He received his pilot license in Oklahoma, and was assigned to a base in Oahu in the Pacific War Zone for a short time and an Air-Sea Rescue & Combat Mapping group on Guam in the Marianna’s Islands. On Iwo Jima, as Senior Pilot, he flew B-24 missions against several Japanese cities. His main function was to lead fighters to and from targets, air & sea rescue and serve as the main communication plane between strike areas and command bases. At times he had 11 radio operators on board. He was also current in P-51’s & P-47’s. When the Japanese surrendered, he was reassigned to Saipan, then sent back to San Francisco and on to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri for discharge. However he did serve another ten years in what is now called the United States Air Force.

After working in construction in the Panama Canal Zone he accepted an airport construction project in Barranquilla Columbia. When Harriet was pregnant, Jack made a deal to fly a cargo C-47 to Cuba where another pilot took over and flew them to Florida. They returned home to Robinson Illinois where their first son Mike was born in 1947 and second son Scott Patton joined the family a year later.

Jack continued his education at the University of Illinois and returned to South America where he formed the engineering and construction company COIN (COnstructive INternational) which was a partnership with his brother and a friend. They built buildings, swimming pools, roads into the Motoloni Indian Jungles and even a floating dry dock on the shores of Lake Maracaibo.

The Easley family now included daughter Candice Anita and they all returned to the USA in 1955. Jack worked as an engineer for the City of Champaign, Illinois and became a Professional Civil Engineer in 1962. Daughter Jacquelyn Dee and son Steven Craig joined the family and all moved to Alaska.

When they arrived in Alaska, Jack took the dual position as Assistant Director of Public Works and City Engineer which he was serving during the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake. Two years later he served those same positions in Miami Beach Florida followed by Oklahoma City in 1968 until he served the position as Assistant City Manager. In 1972 he moved the family back to Alaska to serve as Deputy City Manager until 1974.

His brother Ned was in Indonesia in 1975 while Jack managed his COIN Company in West Virginia and served as Director of Public Works and City Engineer in Reno Nevada. After working a similar job in Pasco County Florida he ended up having served as a Professional Engineer in six states and Registered Land Surveyor in three. He also served three terms on the Matanuska/Susitna Platting Board. He and Harriett retired in Palmer Alaska.

He was a member of the Elks, the Moose, the VFW and the American Legion. He also enjoyed spending time as an Advanced Licensed ham radio (AL7HN) operator and spent many hours in genealogy research. Both he and Harriett proved their lineages back over 50 generations.

Jack is survived by his three sons and two daughters; Michael, Scott, Steven, Candice and Jacquie; grandchildren Kevin, Daniel , Tabatha, Keith, Jessie, Erin, Della, Sarah, Leonard, Robin and Rachel; great grandchildren Kammin, Jake, Brennan, Avery, Tyler, Kaylie, Kyle, Xena, Garrick, Maddie, Johnny, Charlee, Sadie, Dainzin, Rhon and Blake.