This is a time of sadness and loss for all of us who knew and worked with and loved Jack, especially for his immediate family: his wife, Anne; children, Mary, Denise, Alan and Paul; and grandchildren, Ethan and Joshua. But it is also a time to celebrate Jack's life and to give thanks for it, and it is a privilege to be part of that celebration in giving thanks for having lived to know and work with such a great big man.
Jack, a native of Co Kerry, was educated in Dingle, Galway and London. At the age of 50, he left a lucrative career in the building industry and took early retirement to do the things he really loved doing. To be with his family, to spend time with his parish, with the choir, with his golf, with his woodwork, with the Irish language and with Focus Ireland, to which he has given countless hours, hours without end.
When we in Focus Ireland decided to set up a housing wing, we invited Jack to be the chairman of Focus Housing Association. To him we entrusted the development of the housing division, which now houses over 200 people who otherwise would be without a home and which plans to house another 200 before the new millennium. Jack was no ordinary chairman. An engineer by profession, he brought a special knowledge and expertise to the job, but what was much more important, Jack was a man of deep commitment and compassion and his involvement knew no bounds.
For Jack, every project was special, every house was special, every apartment was special and every person who lived in them was special and was worthy of respect and recognition; and the weaker and more vulnerable they were, the more important they were in Jack's eyes. He knew them all and greeted them all by name. Jack watched and waited and guarded each of those buildings as if he was building it for himself and his family. Working with the architects, quantity surveyors and builders, he oversaw the plans and designs, the tenders, estimates and budgets and the construction itself, down to the finest detail, and for Jack always only the best was good enough.
He was a man with a big heart. His generosity knew no bounds. He gave of himself unceasingly and unstintingly to everything he did. His abundant generosity challenged us all to go the extra mile and do more.
Jack had his roots in Dingle, Co Kerry. Dingle people never say simply that someone has died - "Fuair se bas". Instead we say "Ta se imithe are sli na firinne": he is gone in the way of truth, or he is walking on the road of truth. Jack is now walking on the road of truth. He truly valued life, but he valued truth more than life because he knew that truth was freedom; and now the truth has set him free in the fullest and most complete sense.
Ni bheidh a leitheid ann aris. Go raibh a anam ar dheis De. S.S.K.