Jack Whirry

Jack Whirry was born on September 27, 1919 in the front room of his parent's farm house in Buffalo Township, Dalton, Wisconsin. He passed away February 4, 2015 at Columbia County Health Care Center, Wyocena. After graduation from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 1940, he began his career as Vo Ag Teacher and FFA Advisor at Gibraltar High School in Fish Creek, WI. He married the love of his life Mickey Schmidt of Wauwatosa on June 21, 1941, settling in Door County. Two years later they moved to Montello where he taught vocational agriculture and advised the Montello FFA Chapter for the next 35 years. Jack was a committed educator but also a coach of FFA judging teams. He loved the competition and passed that love along to his students who excelled in state and national competition. His specialty was poultry and eggs judging. More than 20 times his state winners went on to compete in the national FFA competition in Kansas City. He also trained FFA judging teams in dairy, beef, farm crops, and soils. During his years at Montello HS, Jack guided the purchase of two Montello High School Forests, which were prototypes for high school forests across the nation. Jack loved to fish and hunt. His winter indoor sport was bowling. He took an early retirement in 1980 to manage Evergreen Ranch, the family tree farm in the township of Buffalo. (www.evergreenranch.us) A more detailed obituary will be posted at this site soon.

Jack received numerous awards/recognitions as Ag Teacher, FFA Advisor, and Tree Farmer. 1965 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year, 1982 Regional Tree Farmer and 1999 Wisconsin FFA Hall of Fame Recipient are a few of his honors. He was proud of those but even prouder of the awards achieved by his students during his years in the classroom at Montello High School, where he himself graduated in 1936.

He leaves a rich legacy as a husband, father, farmer, teacher, and harmonica player. Jack and Mickey had four children. Mickey preceded him, passing in 2000. Jack is survived by 4 children: Jon (Betty) Whirry of Madison & Durango, CO, Merry (David) Larkin of Dalton, Jane (Phil) Trahms of Dalton, and Kathy (Jim) Lueptow of Plover. 9 grandchildren: Suzanne (Peter) Taplin of Ulladulla, Australia, Lisa (Tom) Jisa of Phoenix, Sarah (Mike) Aragon of Denver, Joe (Jennifer) Whirry of Durango, John Larkin of Beaver Dam, Jed (Beth) Larkin of Minneapolis, Matthew (Rose) Trahms of Dalton, Emily (Christian) Neef of Pardeeville and Tessa (Michael) Muscanero of Pardeeville. 25 great grandchildren: Amanda, Joanna, Ben, Molly, Stella, Lily, Jake, Summit, Tianna, Jessie (Dakota), Alissa, Ty, Hannah, Sarah, Sam, Ella, Jack, James, Emma, Anna, Graham, Madeline, Mason, Bella, and Ben. 3 great-great grandchildren: Jasper, Terran and Cruz. An active member of Trinity United Methodist Church, Montello for 60+ years, Jack served on the church's official board for decades. In recent years he helped guide the development of the church prayer garden. A celebration of his life will be held at Trinity UMC on Saturday, February 14th at 3:00 p.m. Visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. until 2:45 p.m. Pastor Jeff Radley will preside and burial will take place on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in the Greenwood Cemetery, town of Buffalo, Marquette County. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Jack Whirry can be mailed to W2152 Gillette Road, Dalton, WI 53926 to benefit Trinity United Methodist Church, Greenwood Cemetery Association or the Jack Whirry Scholarship Fund. A special thanks to the staff at the Columbia County Health Care Center for their excellent care and loving concern for Jack for the last three years.

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Previous Events

Visitation
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Funeral Service
Saturday, February 14, 2015