Jack Waldock did a lot for the community and for Lake Erie

I am writing to remember a great Sanduskian and a great Ohioan and a person I am proud to have called my friend, John Henry "Jack" Waldock Sr., 90, who died Sept. 1. I first met Jack when he came to the first meeting of the Northwest Ohio Sea Grant Advisory Committee in 1981, but first a little background. Jack graduated in 1946 from Sandusky High School as the class Valedictorian. He graduated from The Ohio State University College of Agriculture, Summa Cum Laude, in 1950. While at Ohio State he was a member of the intercollegiate livestock and meats judging team. Jack also worked with university student government in an effort to have a small amount charged to each student's fees to create the Ohio Union — the predecessor of the Ohio Union of today.Throughout his life Jack was very successful in business. He started: Waldock Brokerage Service in 1957; Selection, Inc. in 1958; the Selected Meat Company (the largest pork packer in the state) in 1960; Ohio Eastern Express in 1961; co-founded Lind-Waldock and Company, the nation's largest discount commodity corporation, in 1965; and Waldock Commodity Corporation in 1970.Jack was a natural leader and very generous with his time and his financial resources. He was named chair of the Northwest Ohio Sea Grant Advisory Committee, a position he held until 1992, when I asked Jack to serve on the Ohio Sea Grant Director's Advisory Council. Jack also served for years on the Board of Directors of Good Samaritan Hospital in Sandusky, and in 1991 he created the Ohio Golf Hall of Fame and was a long-time member of their Board of Directors.Jack's activities on the Sea Grant Advisory Committee and the Director's Advisory Council made him legendary around Lake Erie and made Ohio Sea Grant and The Ohio State University the envy of Sea Grant programs around the country. Clearly his efforts were instrumental in The Ohio State University being designated as this country's 24th Sea Grant College by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in 1988. Some of the programs Jack was involved with are listed below.Ohio Sea Grant's State Legislature/Congressional Days on Lake Erie. In 1982 Jack was instrumental in creating and hosting our first Congressional Day on Lake Erie. In 1983, we expanded the program to include the State Legislature and it continued to 2013. Jack always served as our master of ceremonies and co-chair of the programs. These were massive undertakings and allowed us to inform elected officials about the importance of Lake Erie and the work being done to educate students and the public, protect the resource, and enhance its economic value to Ohio. Everything for each event was donated by the private sector—Cedar Point, the Jet Express, the Friends of Stone Lab, Visitors Bureaus, Ohio Wine Producers, and many more. We invited the entire congressional delegation and the state legislature and/or their aides. Attendance normally ranged between 125 and 150. Participants had an opportunity to pull a fish trawl on a Stone Lab research vessel, collect sediment samples from the bottom of Lake Erie to observe mayflies, try walleye fishing with a charter captain, collect a plankton and algae sample and look at it under a microscope, and, in general, learn about the value and importance of Lake Erie.Opening the Lake Erie Firing Range. In the mid-1980's the best fishing locations in Lake Erie, the Western Basin Reefs, were frequently closed to fishing due to test artillery firing. Jack was able to bring the various interest groups together in his capacity as Chair of the Sea Grant Advisory Committee and solve the problem and open the reefs to fishing again. This was a huge benefit for the charter fishing industry and private boaters.Fall Fishing Invitational for Outdoor Writers. Jack led the way in his role as chair of the Sea Grant Advisory Committee with communities on the south shore in an effort to help the local economies by expanding tourism into the spring and fall. We invited outdoor writers from surrounding states to a "fall fishing invitational" at Sandusky and Stone Laboratory. This was an extremely successful event and has been repeated many times and duplicated in Lorain County. As a result of this activity one of the writers wrote an article and nominated the Western Basin of Lake Erie as one of the top ten fishing spots in the world—and we were selected as such by Sports Afield. This is also were the phrase "Walleye Capitol of the World" was coined.Waldock Gazebo and Lakeview Pavilion. Jack donated funds to Ohio State in 1996 during Stone Laboratory's Centennial Celebration to construct a large gazebo and a large pavilion/speaker's platform at Stone Laboratory to be used as outdoor classrooms and meeting areas for outdoor receptions and presentations.He was recognized for his dedication and hard work with a series of awards, including the Ohio Sea Grant Distinguished Service Award and the Stone Lab Partnership Award. All Lake Erie users owe Jack a great debt of gratitude. He was an outstanding advocate for Ohio State, Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab, and for Lake Erie. I am proud to have called him my friend. He will be missed!Jeffrey M. Reutter was director of Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab from 1987 to 2015. Jeffrey Reutter