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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Jan '92
John Richard Hacke No.15315 Class of 1946
Died 22 November 1989 in Covington, Georgia, aged 65 years. Interment:
Lawnwood Memorial Park, Covington, Georgia.
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John Richard Hacke, known to his family and friends
as Dick, was born 9 February 1924 in Iowa City, Iowa. His birth
coincided with his father's receiving his master's degree at
the University of Iowa. With degree in hand, Dick's father moved
to Athens, Georgia to work in the Eastern Division of the University
of Georgia. Dick's youth was spent in Athens, where he graduated
from Athens High School. While in high school, Dick was active
in a variety of activities including becoming an Eagle Scout,
acting in school plays, playing on the football team and participating
in the ROTC program. He was also active in his church youth activities.
Upon graduation, Dick received a scholarship to the University
of Georgia and continued in the ROTC program there. Drafted in
March 1943, Dick served in the Infantry at Camp Croft, South
Carolina until he entered West Point in July 1943 as a member
of the Class of 1946. A classmate, Joe Finley, recalled that
although he did not know Dick then, his name was very familiar
to him. It seems that Dick was number one on his senator's statewide
competitive exam while Joe was number two.
With his ROTC and Army background and academic
skills, Dick was able to enjoy life at West Point. He was active
in a variety of clubs and sports. A Star man his last two years,
Dick was always ready and willing to lend a hand to his less
academically-gifted classmates. One of his roommates first class
year, Joe Lusk, recalled that he and another roommate, Al Wheat,
would play two-handed bridge while Dick was studying. Dick would
get upset with the bridge players and try to find a quieter place
to study. When graduation rolled around, Dick became a second
lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.
On 5 June 1946, the day after graduation, Dick
married Marguerite Jayne Robertson in Pelham Manor, New York.
Dick's first assignment was to the 42nd Engineer Battalion in
Korea. From Korea, Dick moved to Japan, where he was an instructor
in the Eighth Army Engineer School. Jayne was able to join him
in Japan in 1948, and they thoroughly enjoyed their stay in that
country. In 1950 Dick made the decision to leave the Army, and
he started a long and prosperous association with the International
Paper Company. He began in 1950 as a sales representative in
the Midwest states; became a plant superintendent in Youngstown,
Ohio in 1953; and advanced to resident manager, Turlock, California,
where he started the Milk Packaging Division's first operation
in the western United States. From 1961-73, Dick was successively
a district manager, assistant to the general manager and, finally,
general manager of the Southeast Region, where he was responsible
for manufacturing milk packaging in three plants and marketing
in eight states and the Caribbean.
Dick and Jayne, after all their moving around,
settled in Covington, Georgia when Dick became general manager.
Always active in the Presbyterian Church, Dick was a charter
member of the newly activated Grace Covenant Church in Covington.
The Reverend George E. Dameron recalled that Dick became the
leader of the church immediately. He served on many committees
and was one of the first Elders. Reverend Dameron was so impressed
with Dick's abilities and love of the church that when the position
of treasurer, Presbyterian Church, United States, became vacant,
he recommended Dick for the position. Dick was elected and served
two three-year terms. The Reverend Dameron remembers that Dick
did a superb job of handling the large sums of money involved.
In his words, "If you knew Dick like I knew Dick, if it
wasn't budgeted, forget about it. He was a stickler for the smallest
or largest detail."
Dick had served in the Army Reserves from 1954.
He served in staff and command positions in Engineer construction
units, as an instructor at the Engineer School and the Command
and General Staff College and the school administration at the
Engineer School. He retired from the Army Reserves with the grade
of colonel in 1981. It was at this time that Dick decided that
he wanted to go back to school. He obtained his master of business
administration in management from Georgia State University in
1981. He then remained with the Department of Management at Georgia
State to teach. In 1983 Dick became a consultant in the Small
Business Development Center at Georgia State and later became
an associate professor in the Department of Management. During
this period, Dick was working on his Ph.D. One of his areas of
interest was international business. To better research this
aspect of his academic interest, Dick and Jayne returned to Japan,
where they had lived when Dick was a lieutenant. Dick received
his Ph.D in 1986 and became an associate professor, Department
of Business at Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi.
John Richard Hacke died at his home on 22 November
1989. He was survived by his wife Jayne, son Michael, daughters
Rebecca and Sarah, brothers James and Gene and sister Winifred
Bliss. In recognition of the very close bond forged in the Grace
Covenant Church, Jayne asked the Reverend Dameron to conduct
the funeral service for Dick.
Throughout his life, Dick continued to live the
West Point motto "Duty, Honor, Country." All who knew
and worked with him, whether in the Army or in civilian life,
remember him as the personification of what a West Pointer should
be. He never shirked a responsibility or failed to give his utmost
to any endeavor. Those close to him remarked that they always
knew that they had a real friend in Dick Hacke--he was always
loyal and steadfast, giving more to each friendship than he received.
A loving husband and father, Dick always made sure that he found
time to be with Jayne and their children, even when the demands
of his professional life were at their greatest. Proud to be
a West Pointer, John Richard Hacke will always be remembered
fondly by his family, friends and classmates. His "course
on earth is run," and the Class of 1946 can proudly say,
"Well Done, Be Thou At Peace."
'46 Memorial Project and his wife, Jayne
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