Jack Donegan
Founder of Jack’s Place
Jack Donegan was born on June 18, 1940. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1958 and graduated from Annapolis in 1963. He received a Doctorate in Physics in 1972 and spent most of his career in high technology weapons programs. He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1991 and retired in 1994 after commanding the Naval Command, Control and Ocean Surveillance Center in San Diego, CA. He and his wife Joanna moved to the upstate in 2004, and was an enthusiastic supporter of the Foothills British Car Club, becoming president in 2010. He passed away peacefully at home on May 11, 2015.
2009 club president Tom Buto remembers him fondly as he recalls his search for a vice-president;
“After a really nice conversation with Jack, I knew right away that I wanted him as my VP. His passion for British cars was evident and he seemed to have great leadership qualities. I did not know at the time that Jack had led thousands of people during his career. I only knew that this guy cared for the hobby and wanted to be involved with others who shared his passion, or as some of our wives would say: addiction. Jack was nominated at the November meeting and, of course, he accepted.”
In addition to publishing the club newsletter, Jack took it upon himself to be responsible for membership. He compiled and printed the FBCC Membership Directory, and kept it current In October of 2009, Jack published the revised FBCC By-Laws after a tremendous amount of work in getting input from members, checking on legal implications and finally getting consensus on what made sense for the Club.
Most of us in the FBCC only knew Jack for relatively short period of time of his life. Some of us got to know him pretty well in that short period. We all knew what a contribution Jack made to the club and how sincere he was with all of our members. We also knew that his dedication, his authenticity and his caring went well beyond our club to everyone Jack touched. He is a dear friend and will always be remembered.”
Jack gifted his 4 post lift and automotive tools to our club on his passing. He had established a work area in leased space in a Greenville warehouse which the club continued to utilize for several years. In early 2017 club member Kirk Fisher offered garage space at his law office location on Poinsett Highway. After much hard work, all the equipment was relocated and Jack’s Legacy Garage opened on March 18, 2017.