Jack L. Lockett

“Best of all he loved the fall ... the fall with the tawny and grey, the leaves yellow on the cottonwoods, leaves floating on the trout streams and above the hills the high, blue windless skies.”-Hemingway

Autumn was his favorite season. On September 20th 2014 on a clear morning - Jack L. Lockett passed away surrounded by his family who dearly loved him.

Jack was born on December 19th 1927 in Bellingham, Washington to Francis and Mabel Lockett.

Like his father before him, Jack was raised and educated in Toppenish, his grandfather John Calvin Lockett having settled in Toppenish in 1898 and founded the Toppenish Iron Works.

Throughout his life Jack was athletic. He played on the Toppenish High School football team and boxed on his father’s police athletic league team, as well as in college. He was also an accomplished equestrian and an excellent marksman.

After his graduation from Toppenish High School, Jack joined the Navy Air Force during WWII. Following his discharge from the Navy, he attended Washington State University.

On Sept. 14th 1952, Jack married Betty Kiritsakis. The couple settled in Toppenish and had two children, a son Nick, and a daughter Terry.

Jack was employed as civil engineer for the Department of Transportation for 26 years. Mr. Lockett was also a cattle rancher in Wapato for many years.

Jack was man of great depth, dignity, integrity and loyalty. His physical and moral courage were unsurpassed.

Jack was an independent thinker, an avid reader, and a lifelong scholar with a keen mind. His many talents included, woodworking, carpentry, landscaping, painting, art, writing, and storytelling. He was interested in history, genealogy, geography and the Greek language.

Jack excelled at anything he put his mind to but what he will be remembered for the most was the immeasurable love he had for his wife and children and they for him. He was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather.

Jack also loved to travel and he and his wife Betty took 14 trips to Greece as well as traveling to Scotland, London, Hawaii, and across the continental United States.

On Sept. 14th, 2014 they celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary. Betty and Jack had a lifelong romance.

Jack was preceded in death by his parents Francis and Mabel Lockett, his beloved son Nick Lockett, and sister Geraldine “Lockett” Wagner. He is survived by his wife Betty Lockett, daughter Terry (husband Sam) and three grandchildren Duane, Jack and Amalia, his nieces, Kathy and Karen, and their children and his cousins.

Funeral Services will be 1:00 p.m., Friday, October 3, 2014 at Langevin-Mussetter Funeral Home. Interment will follow at 3:00 p.m., at Zillah Cemetery. Arrangements have been entrusted to Langevin-Mussetter Funeral Home.