John “Jack” W. Jungroth 1929-2011
Today June 7, 2012, is the one year anniversary of my father, John “Jack” Jungroth’s passing.
It’s been a very difficult time for me and yet, seems like it was only yesterday when I received the news that he had passed over, leaving this world and us behind.
Dad had many varied interests and abilities from computers, music, genealogy, horses, writing, dogs, cattle to marketing, public relations and appearances.
Family Ties
Dad sure was proud of all of us four kids, four grandkids, five great-grandchildren and the three grandkids and five great-grandchildren by marriage, too.
As a matter of fact, my youngest brother John’s daughter and family held a picnic and invited all of us over there, just a few days before Dad died.
He enjoyed being around all the youngsters and all the terrific food that was served! Everyone had a great time, thanks so much!
Campbell and Shaw Genealogy
Dad was a very avid genealogy hound too and had been compiling family histories for over 50 years. His father (Jungroth-Bodforss) was from pure Swedish descent and his mother (Campbell-Shaw) was from pure Scottish descent.
Dad became a member of both the Clan Shaw and the Clan Campbell early on and received both the Dagger and Sword of distinction, presented by the Clan Shaw, I believe. He was so very proud to have received them, as not many are presented to the members.
In 1989 he and a cousin wrote and published a family history book on the Sandin, Peterson and Jungroth Families 1859-1989, which was a published hardcover book with over 1,300 pages and numerous historical photographs.
The two cousins also organized the first and only family reunion of the three family branches, which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 24, & 25, 1989. There were over 200 attendees from across the country and some coming from as far away as Sweden!
Each person in the different branches wore the colored T-shirt that went with their “clan,” Jungroth was blue, Sandin’s were red, I believe and the Peterson’s were yellow. I still have my shirt and also have a commemorative coffee mug and the book, of course.
Virginia Sandin, Dad’s co-author and the organizer of the reunion, had made up a HUGE family tree poster. She also had each person sign a “register” and there was also someone going around with a movie camera, catching all the events.
I was not aware of this video until just the other day when I discovered the VCR tape in some of Dad’s belongings that Mom sent.
Then after all the meetings, greetings, eating and playing, at the end of the reunion, we all had our pictures taken, wearing our clan T-shirts. What fun that whole weekend was!
Barbershop Quartet and Chorus Singing
Mom also sent me ALL of Dad’s barbershop quartet music tapes and some CDs, photographs of all the choruses and quartets he was in and directed, along with all the name tags from each group. I haven’t counted all those, but there has to be over 20 name tags alone!
Any of you reading this post that are barbershop quartet fans, be sure to contact me so I can share all these wonderful tapes and CDs with you. I’d much rather give them away than send to the dump so contact me ASAP at [email protected]
Oh what a fireball your father was. The first time I heard from him was in 1980…and over the years…he would call me with suggestions about news stories on the Oklahoma Horse Council.
I spent 33 years with KTOK Radio in Oklahoma City and your father would call and compare notes on the politics of the day. We met once for drinks and I still recall that brilliant white mustache he sported and his white cowboy hat.
But it was his enthusiastic conversation that I most recall. Working in a radio newsroom, we would get many phone calls from listeners. Some you just put up with, while others you just hated. But I very much enjoyed talking and talking with Jack. For some reason this weekend, I wondered about Jack and saw his email in my directory. I Googled his name and saw where he died last year.
Too bad, he would have cussed KTOK when corporate leaders made me a victim of ‘corporate downsizing’.
Ah, Jack…you will be missed sorely by this friend.
Jerry Bohnen
Oh Jerry, thanks soooo much for leaving your wonderful blog comment about my dad, I recall him mentioning your name several times. It’s heartwarming to hear from friends of his, he was quite the guy and very much an “in your face” type person, but in a good way most of the time, anyway.
I learned a great deal from him and one of the things I admired about him the most, was the way he had with people. Always interested in what was going on in your life, outgoing and friendly unless of course, you crossed him–then watch out!
I enjoyed reading your post about remembering your father. Thanks for sharing your family story.