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John "Jack" Leroy DeVries
Jody Hane2021-01-23T10:28:29-06:00
- Name: John "Jack" Leroy DeVries
- Location of Birth: Crosby, North Dakota
- Date of Birth: April 8, 1916
- Date of Death: September 10, 1991 (75 years old)
- Parents: Harry DeVries and Audrey (Gilbert) DeVries
- High School and Class: 1934 - Bigfork High School, Bigfork, Minnesota
- College:
- Highest Rank: CMM (Chief Machinist's Mate)
- Branch: Navy
- Other Branch: Seabees
- Date Sworn In:
- Place Sworn In:
- Date of Discharge:
- Place of Discharge:
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- Military Awards:
- Military Highlights:
Jack served with the Seabees during World War II spending three years in the South Pacific.
- Wars Involved:
World War II
- MIA / POW:
- Civilian Life:
Jack attended school at Crosby, North Dakota through his junior year in high school. He then moved to Bigfork, Minnesota in 1933 and graduated from Bigfork High School in 1934.
Jack worked a time at the Civilian Conservation Corps camps in this area. He worked at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minnesota on a federal forestry scholarship and spent seven years with the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service at Bena, Minnesota.
After the service, Jack returned to Bigfork and began operation of John DeVries, Inc., and worked in the construction business for 45 years, retiring in 1990.
Jack was an elder of Bigfork Presbyterian Church and was a member since 1946. He was a member of Chippewa Lodge No. 275 in Deer River, Minnesota, North Star Shrine of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Aad Temple Shrine of Duluth, Minnesota, a charter member and past president of Bigfork Lions Club, Bigfork, Minnesota, a 45-year member and acting quartermaster of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1764, Bigfork, Minnesota, American Legion Post 182 of Effie, Minnesota, Local 49 of Operating Engineers of Minnesota, American General Contractors Association, Loyal Order of Moose in Grand Rapids, Minnesota and was a past member and past chairman of Northern Itasca Hospital Board of Bigfork, Minnesota. He was active in the construction of Edge of the Wilderness Golf Course and Bigfork Airport improvements.
Preceded in death by his brother, Leonard in 1986, surviving relatives include his wife, Jean; foster daughter Judith Geoghegan; nephews Leonard, John, and James; and a niece Jan Marie Pettus.
Jack died in Northern Itasca Hospital in Bigfork, Minnesota and is buried in the Bigfork Cemetery at Bigfork, Minnesota.
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