Beloved father and long time Vashon Island resident Jack Morrow (87) passed away peacefully on June 20. Born July 14, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois.

Jack drove a team of horses on the shores of Lake Michigan, picking up litter so he could buy and board his first horse at the age of 13 during the Depression. After high school, he followed his wanderlust of being a cowboy in Texas. He found work on the JA Ranch, in the Panhandle of Texas during his youth with weekends spent riding broncs and Brahma bulls on the rodeo circuit before joining the Marines in 1946 where he had overseas tours in France, Italy and Adak, Alaska.

In 1948 he had the honor of driving a team of horses pulling a Prairie style chuck wagon in Chicago's Macy Days Parade which made photographed headlines in the Chicago Tribune that year.

After the marines he lived in Chicago where he took business courses which earned him a Vice Presidency with the First National Bank of Chicago and met and married Joan Hach in 1952. They had three children, John William, Evan Clayton and Kathleen Jean. In 1966 they moved to Vashon Island where they built a home on acreage on Maury Island. He was the president of the Vashon Island Saddle Club during its heyday in the 1970's when gaming was at its peak and all levels and ages competed at Eagles Hall and then, on to El Pondo along Cemetery road.

Jack retired from Cigna in 1987 after a cherished pre-retirement year with Joan living in San Francisco. In retirement, he continued to enjoy his family, neighbors, world travels as well as working the property and riding a string of Tennessee Walkers until he was 77. Earning himself the name of the Marlboro man in the area for the miles of trails and roads he'd traversed over the years' which by then circumferenced the globe. The friends he met as neighbors, along his rides and in town and with horses were always important to him. He always enjoyed hearing their stories, and sharing a few of his own.

Jack is survived by his son, Evan, Vashon, daughter, Kathy, granddaughter, Alexandra and later life significant other, Leona Beauchamp whom he moved to Seattle to be closer to, after Joan passed in 2006. He settled comfortably in the Laurelhurst community in 2013, hanging up his DR and chainsaw and enjoyed the convenience of life in the City after (50) years of Vashon's rurality. He would exclaim how happy he was to have his newspaper delivered to the doorstep each morning instead of the long walk down the driveway.

To the end he said he'd lived a good life.

A memorial in his honor will be held on Sunday, July 10, 2016 at 1:00 pm at Island Funeral Service. If you have a cowboy hat, wear it. Let's send them into the sky following the ceremony with a big Scream to the Sky of "Yee Haw". In remembrance of what it must have felt like, gripping the leather, feeling the shuddering beast underneath you, hearing the crowds roar and knowing you've got 7 seconds, when the chute opens.

Dad would like that.