ST. JOSEPH, La. — A Celebration of Life for Jack Morris Grace Jr., 74, of St. Joseph, will be Friday, Feb. 3, 2017, at 10 a.m. with the Rev. Wanda Smith officiating. Interment will follow at Legion Memorial Cemetery, Newellton, La., under the direction of Young’s Funeral Home.
He was born Sept. 22, 1942, in Warren County and passed away Monday, Jan. 30, 2017, at Merit Health River Region. He was a member of First United Methodist Church of St. Joseph.
In 1960, he graduated from Joseph Moore Davidson High School in St. Joseph and enrolled at Louisiana Tech University, where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.
After serving in the ROTC, he graduated in 1965 with a degree in finance and was commissioned into the United States Air Force as a first lieutenant. He served his country during the Vietnam War stationed at Hurlburt Field, Eglin Air Force Base, in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and Clark Air Force Base in Manila, Republic of the Philippines.
He married Qualeen Whitehead of Cottonwood, Ala., on March 13, 1967. He received an honorable discharge with the rank of captain in April 1969.
Jack returned to St. Joseph to his high school and summer job at the Bank of St. Joseph & Trust Co., now known as Cross Keys Bank, as a teller. He worked his way up to executive vice president/chief operations officer.
He was elected to the board of directors in 1986. He retired from Cross Keys Bank in 2008 with 48 years of service. He served as a bank director for 30 years until 2016.
Throughout his life he enjoyed photography, fishing, hunting, antiquing, playing cards, winning at bingo, vacationing with family, golf, tennis and every sport in which his children and grandchildren participated.
He was very active in the community. He served as an alderman for the city of St. Joseph for 36 years. He served on the Tensas Academy School Board as treasurer. He spent many years involved with Dixie Youth Baseball and the Boy Scouts of America.
He served as president of the St. Joseph Arts. He was integral in organizing the Turkey Trot and Jake fun runs. He volunteered countless hours to the Tensas Athletic Association. He was active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion and Rotary International.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Jack Morris Grace Sr. and Katherine Payne Grace.
He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Qualeen Grace of St. Joseph; his son, Paul Grace (Lisa) of Orlando, Fla., and children Kaitlyn and Sean; son, Kevin Grace and (Nicole) of Petal and children Ryan, Sawyer, Jack Riley, and Vivian; son, Travis Grace and Kelsey Leake of St. Joseph; brother, Mike Grace (Peggy) of Baton Rouge, La.; aunt, Joyce Payne Tidwell Wall; and 12 nephews and nieces.
Pallbearers will be Ben Watson, Brooks Watson, Scott Watson, Darrell VandeVen, Donnie VandeVen and Hank Rabb.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church of St. Joseph, Tensas Academy, or Millsaps College in Jackson.
Honorary Pallbearers will be the current and former Cross Keys Bank Directors and the men’s prayer breakfast group of the First United Methodist Church of St. Joseph.
The family will receive friends at Young’s Funeral Home in Ferriday, La., from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2.
To leave an online condolence for the family please visit youngsfh.com.