June 21, 1924 - Sept. 19, 2009
From the Daily News-Sun, Sun Valley, Ariz., Sept. 23, 2009:
Jack Hart, 85, of Sun City, Arizona, died Saturday, September 19, 2009 at Peoria, Arizona. Born on a farm near Cozad, Nebraska, he was a graduate of the University of Nebraska and served three years aboard submarines with the US Navy during World War II. Hart joined the staff of the Lincoln (NE) Journal Newspaper in 1950. He served as farm editor, government reporter and editor of the editorial page before being named managing editor in 1974. He left the newspaper to become natural resources coordinator for Governor Charles Thone. He later lobbied for the city of Lincoln in the Nebraska Legislature and then established a public relations business. In 1991 he and his wife, Mary, moved to Sun City, Arizona where he became active in community affairs, including service as board member of the Sun City Homeowners Association and Sun Cities Area Historical Society. He served as President of the Sun City Republican Club, the Nebraska Club of the Sun Cities, and the Sun City Bell Lions Club. For a time, Jack was a blogger for the Arizona Republic. He was a member of the Willowbrook United Methodist Church, Sun City. Hart authored a biography of Virginia Smith, a resident of Sun City West. After serving 18 years in Congress, she was the only woman from Nebraska ever elected to the US House of Representatives. In 2001, after the death of Mary, he married Judy Taylor, who had moved to Arizona from Pennsylvania. He is also survived by daughters: Linda Stroh of Glendale (George Stroh) and Susan Hart of Federal Way, Washington; two granddaughters; and three great-granddaughters. Jack has donated his brain and body to the nationally acclaimed Sun Health Research Institute in the hopes that they soon will find a cure for Alzheimer's, the disease that finally claimed him. Memorial donations may be made to the Willowbrook United Methodist Church, 19390 N. 99th Avenue, Sun City, Arizona 85373 or Sun Health Research Institute, 10515 W. Santa Fe Drive., Sun City, Arizona, 85351. Memorial service will be held Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 10:30 A.M. at the Willowbrook United Methodist Church, 19390 N. 99th Avenue, Sun City, Arizona.A descendant of Pilgrim John Howland, he joined the Nebraska Society in 2008.
