Jack M. Gruber

Jack was born Nov. 23, 1933, to John and Della Gruber in Colville, Wash. He completed his early schooling in Colville, graduating as valedictorian of the class of 1952. He majored in forestry at Washington State University, from which he received a bachelor of science degree in 1956. While at WSU, he received multiple military and agricultural awards and distinctions, including being elected president of the Forestry Club. He joined the forestry department of Potlatch Forests Inc. after graduation in June 1956. During a leave of absence, he completed training duties with the U.S. Army. Upon completing his Army Reserve obligation, he was honorably discharged with the rank of captain.

Jack returned to Potlatch in the fall of 1957 and continued his work in the forestry department. He transferred to the corporate public relations department as publications manager in October 1960, and was promoted to public affairs manager for the Northwest Region in September 1966.

Jack's life was one of service to his community. This began in 1960, when he was asked to join the Lewiston Jaycees. He won the Spoke award (outstanding first-year member) and later received the Spark Plug award from the Lewiston and State Jaycees. He earned their Key Man award and served as president of the local club in 1966-67.

Jack was repeatedly recognized for his community service leadership. In 1961, he headed the effort that finally passed a bond measure to provide a modern sewage system for the Lewiston Orchards. In 1962, he was part of a group of local business people who started Junior Achievement in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley to teach high school students fundamentals of business practices. He served on that board of directors for several years and as president one year. In 1967, he was chairman of the Orchards Community Association, whose hard work resulted in passing another bond issue and construction of a modern 50-meter swimming pool in 1968.

Jack's community service and civic activities earned him recognition at the local, state and national level. The Lewiston Jaycees named him their Distinguished Service Award winner as Lewiston's Outstanding Young Man in 1967. He was named Citizen of the Year in 1967-68 by the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post. He was also selected several times for inclusion in Outstanding Young Men of America, and was named as one of three outstanding young men in the state of Idaho in 1968.

Jack was also active in the Lewiston Chamber of Commerce, serving on a number of committees and on the board of directors. He served as interim manager and other elected positions. After being elected vice president of the North Idaho Chamber of Commerce, he continued to represent Nez Perce County for a number of years. He was elected president in 1983. That same year, Jack joined the new Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Northern Idaho, serving as president in 1989 and retiring from its board of directors in 2008.

Jack retired from Potlatch Corp. in January 1986. Four months later, he was again asked by the Lewiston Chamber of Commerce to fill in as interim manager, which topped off his 25 years of service to the chamber. He was later invited to join the Credit Bureau of Lewiston-Clarkston and worked there part time from 1992 until retiring for good in November 2001.

Jack married Joan Elsensohn in 1957 and they had one son. They later divorced, and he married Mary Jane Haynes and they also divorced. He married Mary Lou Cook in 1992. Jack is survived by his wife, Mary Lou of Lewiston; son Greg (Kathy) of Tacoma; grandsons David and Nicholas; and his dog, Su Ling.

Preceding Jack in death were his parents, three sisters and two brothers.

Jack liked to be outdoors and enjoyed snowmobiling, riding all-terrain vehicles, photography, reading and traveling. He especially enjoyed working on his tree farm in Clearwater County. He built a small cabin for overnight stays and spent countless hours improving his property from a forestry standpoint. He traveled through Alaska and Canada with a friend, stopping in Manitoba to watch the polar bears hunt seals on the ice in Hudson Bay. He also liked to brag about winning a trip to Hawaii by almost exactly estimating the number of pennies (21,859) covering the vault at Twin River National Bank. As well, Jack held the notable distinction as the 1 millionth attendee at the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the Jack M. and Mary Lou Gruber Scholarship Fund at Lewis-Clark State College, 500 Eighth Ave., Lewiston, ID 83501. Vassar-Rawls Funeral Home has been entrusted with the cremation and, at Jack's request, no public service will be held.