Obituary of Jack Mefford

Written and provided by family Jack Calvin Mefford, 84 of Othello, Washington went home to be with the Lord on Saturday, March 15, 2025. He was surrounded by family and friends, and will be dearly missed. Jack was born on August 12, 1940 to Roy Mefford and Charlotte (Waters) Mefford in Troy, Ohio. He was the middle of three children and grew up near West Alexandria, Ohio where he graduated from high school. He spent his childhood like many at the time; exploring outdoors, attending church regularly, and learning the value of hard work while spending time with his family, who were very close. They attended various Protestant churches and Jack gave his life to Christ at an early age. As a devout Christian, his faith was always a guiding principle throughout his life. Upon graduation, Jack followed in the footsteps of his older brother and enlisted in the United States Air Force serving between 1958-1966 as an aircraft electrician. During his service, he spent three years in Okinawa, Japan. The Japanese culture and people left quite an impression on him and Jack often shared stories about his time and experiences there. Shortly after being discharged from the Air Force, Jack used his skills acquired in the military to begin working for the Bell Telephone Company in Spokane, Washington. He spent 34 years as a telephone lineman, splicer, and service technician. He was with the company during its many mergers from Bell, to US West, and then to Qwest. In 1967, while in Spokane, Jack met and married Judy Roe Mefford. Jack’s work took his family\ from Spokane to Vancouver, WA. While in Vancouver, he also volunteered as a reserve deputy for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office where he won several awards for marksmanship at police shooting competitions. Jack and Judy eventually moved to Othello in 1975. It was a very small town back then with limited housing opportunities for a family, but it had one attribute important to Jack… It rarely rained! During his 50 years as part of the community of Othello, Jack coached his daughters in fastpitch during some of the first years it was offered, was active in the Othello High School Band Boosters in the 90’s, and enjoyed serving in various roles in the Othello First Baptist Church where he was a member for more than 40 years. He especially enjoyed serving the town’s youth as a leader in the AWANA program. While living in Othello, Jack decided to serve his country again and joined the Army National Guard. He spent 8 years as a vehicle driver and squad leader with the 1161 st Transportation Unit out of Ephrata. His hobbies included hunting, fishing, and camping. One of his favorite places to camp was the American Adventure Campground in Soap Lake that was there during the 80’s and early 90’s. Every summer Jack would take his family on cross-country road trips with their RV to see national parks, historic landmarks, and visit family in the mid-west. Together, Jack and Judy raised five daughters. Their love and devotion to each other resulted in 20 grandchildren, 27 great grandchildren, and 1 great-great grandchild. Jack was an extremely outgoing, friendly, generous person who always had a smile on his face and a joke on the tip of his tongue. He loved to laugh, enjoyed being the center of attention, and always looked forward to large family gatherings. Jack rarely missed an opportunity to be in the stands of any sporting event, or the audience of any dance recital, band concert, or performance in which his children or grandchildren participated. He took pride in giving people nicknames and bestowed one upon each of his children and grandchildren. Like it or not, these nicknames stuck and were how many of his family members always signed their names and referred to themselves when visiting with him. Jack was preceded in death by his parents, wife Judy, and daughter Susan Lamb. He is survived by his brother, Robert Mefford of Nebraska; his sister, Carolyn Slaughter of Indiana; his daughters Debra Larsen (Matt) and Sharon Marx of Post Falls, Idaho; Jacqueline Jewell (Michael) of Moses Lake, Washington; Melissa Calzadillas (John) of Halethorpe, Maryland; and numerous nieces, nephews, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren.