John "Jack" Blackledge Jr.

John “Jack” Blackledge, Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana October 14, 1939. His mother, Mary and two sisters moved to Jennings, Louisiana during his elementary school years. He graduated from Jennings High School and in 1959 married his high school sweetheart, Frances Breaux of Welsh. They moved to Lafayette, Louisiana, where Jack attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana—the “Ragin’ Cajuns’--majoring in Physics and Mathematics. During those years Jack and Frances started their family, which would eventually grow to four boys-John, Mark, Matt and James.

Jack was hired by Schlumberger after college and worked in the oil field of southern Louisiana around Donaldsonville. In 1965, Jack was hired by IBM and the family moved to the Space Coast of Florida. Jack worked on many NASA-related programs, including the Apollo, Spacelab and Shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center for over 20 years. His most notable career accomplishment was creating the simulator system for the Apollo and Shuttle Programs. He received IBMs Outstanding Contribution for his role in that project. Jack is listed in the U.S. Space Workers’ Hall of Honor in Titusville, Florida.

While Jack was highly respected and excelled in his career, he was even more involved in his role as a husband, father and eventually with his granddaughters. He was always engaged in everything his four sons did. Jack served as Scoutmaster, Little League President and Coach, Church President and many other volunteer positions in the community.

In 1984, Jack was transferred to IBM in Boca Raton where he was the Lead Architect for IBM’s emerging PC Division. Two of his sons, Mark and Matt Blackledge, would eventually begin their careers at IBM following in Jack’s footsteps. Jack received many awards and patents during his time with IBM.

Upon retiring from IBM in 1995, Jack was brought onboard at Blockbuster Video as the Lead Technical Advisor to develop digital streaming technology for the movie entertainment industry. After their first grandchild, Jessica, was born, Jack and Frances returned to the Space Coast in 1997. Jack was tapped as an independent systems engineer consultant for the Space Shuttle CLCS program. When that program ended, Jack became a full-time husband, father, and grandfather to Jessica and Jennifer Blackledge.

Jack was an active member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, a member of the board of directors at the Greater Palm Bay Senior Center and active as a local IBM retiree. Jack was a son, brother, husband, father, grandfather and space pioneer who was devoted to his faith, family and career.

A visitation will be held at Fountainhead Memorial Funeral Home, located at 7359 Babcock Street SE, Palm Bay, Florida, Thursday, February 12, 2026, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.

A Catholic Funeral Mass will take place at St Joseph's Catholic Church, 5330 Babcock Street NE, Palm Bay, Florida, Friday, February 13, 2026, from 1:00pm to 2:00pm.

The committal service will follow at Fountainhead Memorial Park, 7303 Babcock Street SE, Palm Bay, Florida, on February 13, 2026, from 2:30pm to 3:00pm.