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Celebrating the life of John T. (Jack) Catherwood
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Obituary for John T. (Jack) Catherwood
We celebrate the life of Jack Catherwood, who passed away peacefully in the embrace of family at St. Catherine’s Village in Madison on September 12, just a few weeks shy of his 90th birthday. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Jack called Mississippi home for the past 44 years, having moved to Jackson from Simsbury, Connecticut, with his wife, Martha, and children Jack Junior, Eileen and Paul in 1976. Jack was a 1952 graduate of Georgetown University, after which he served as a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer in Asia during the Korean War. He received his master’s degree in business administration from New York University after the war, then set out on a business career in sales, marketing and general management. Ultimately that work brought Jack and family to Jackson when he became Vice President and General Manager of GTE Electrical Equipment (later Challenger Electric). In 1984, he and Martha purchased Jackson Lighting Center, a residential and commercial lighting distributor based on South Jackson, which they ran together until their retirement in 1997. A lifelong Roman Catholic, Jack was a member of Holy Family parish in Northwest Jackson, and later of St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Flowood. In 1985, he joined Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Jackson as a volunteer and served for many years as chair of the Governance Council, chair of the Finance and Audit Committee, and advisor to the executive director. Earlier in life, he served as a member of Georgetown’s Alumni Board of Governors and was a past president of the university’s Metropolitan New York Alumni Club. Jack met Martha (a native of Mangum, Oklahoma) in San Antonio, Texas, during his Air Force training. They married in 1955 and enjoyed 65 years of devoted love and friendship, punctuated by travel, watching sports of all kinds, summers in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, dry martinis, the occasional good steak and endless laughter with family and friends. He is survived by Martha, Jack Jr. and Betty Catherwood, Eileen and Brian Balmes, Paul and Amy Catherwood, six grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. The funeral mass will be held at St. Paul Catholic Church in Flowood, Mississippi, on Thursday, September 24, at 10 a.m. A private interment will follow at Parkway Memorial Gardens in Madison. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jack’s memory to Catholic Charities Diocese of Jackson at www.catholiccharitiesJackson.org. The Catherwoods offer their sincere thanks to the physicians and nurses of Baptist Medical Center and the outstanding team at St. Catherine’s Village for their care and support during Jack’s final days.