Cover photo for Jack James Sias's Obituary
1921 Jack 2015

Jack James Sias

November 2, 1921 — March 26, 2015

Graveside Service with Military Honors will be held for Jack James Sias, Noon, Thursday, April 2, 2015 at Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, Oregon. Jack passed away at a local Portland hospital on March 26, 2015, he was 93 years of age.

Jack was born in Portland, Oregon, on November 2, 1921.  His father , John Sias, grew up in Tonopah, Nevada, and his mother, Maude Compton,  was raised on a wheat farm in Weston, Oregon.  They met and married in San Francisco in 1920 and then moved to Portland where his father worked for Union Pacific Railroad for 40 years.

In 1940 Jack graduated from Washington High School and later went on to Lewis & Clark College where he was a member of the first freshman class in 1942.  The following year he was accepted in the College Naval Training Program and was assigned to Willamette University as a science major.  He was discharged two and a half years later and  then returned to Lewis and Clark College where he received his degree.   He met and married Jean Peterson  in 1949.  Their daughter, Kare, was born the following year.

Jack and Jean moved to Walla Walla in 1949 and Jack went to work for the pharmaceutical firm Merck & Company, where he called on the medical profession.   Four years later they moved back to Portland when he was offered a job with W. B. Saunders as a medical textbook representative for Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia.   In the 1960’s he opened the Coachman, a men’s clothing store, in Raleigh Hills.  Later Jack and Jean lived in Gearhart and he served as General Manager of Gearhart Golf Club.   After several years in Gearhart,  Jack and Jean moved back to Portland and he began working for Riviera Motors, where he sold Daihatsu off-road utility vehicles for owner Knute Qvale.  This work took him several times to Kyoto, Japan.  Eight years later the buyout of the company  by Daihatsu concluded his employment there at the age of 65.  He worked  part-time after that for a variety of companies.

Golf was always a big part of Jack’s life.  He joined Portland Golf Club in 1958 and was its club champion four times.  He remained a member until his passing.  Jack won the club championship at Walla Walla Country Club one year and the Walla Walla City Championship.  He was also a Royal Oaks Invitational Champion.  Twice he qualified for the National Amateur Golf Championship.  Jack and Jean enjoyed international travel and their journeys took them  to all the major countries in Europe and to China and Japan.  While in Scotland, Jack played in the International  Seniors Championship in Gleneagles, where he won his sectional flight.  Always a lifetime learner and reader, his favorite subjects were astronomy (he studied the stars through his many telescopes), anatomy, science in general and biographies of famous people.   He also appreciated and collected fine art.

Jack was preceded in death by his wife, Jean, in 2001, and his daughter, Kare Sias Parks,  in 2010.

Donations in his memory may be made to the Lewis and Clark Alumni Association.


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