Jack Preston Black

With his family at his side, an honorable man passed peacefully on December 12, 2013. A punctured, collapsed lung took his life in Sacred Heart Hospital, Spokane, WA. He was 1 month shy of age 85. A memorial will be held 1 p.m., March 29, 2014, at the Elks Lodge in Moses Lake. All are welcome.

Jack was born Jackie Preston Black in Adel, Iowa, in January 1929, as the middle child of Irene Elizabeth (Gamble) Black and Earl Preston Black. His siblings are Glenness Bernadine (Black) Byam, of Moses Lake, WA and George Richard (Dick) Black, of Pasco, WA.

The family moved to Wheeler Hill in Wenatchee, Washington for a brief time, and then to Neppel, Washington in 1935. Neppel was named Moses Lake in 1938. Jack attended school in Moses Lake. His first school was a 2 room school house in Mae Valley & he talked about stoking the fire for the school. He graduated from Moses Lake High School.

Jack served his country during World War II as a soldier in the U.S. Army, where he was classified as a Sharp Shooter. Because Jack was on all the sports teams in high school, he was handpicked to work in an office, because the Commanding Office wanted a good baseball team. Dad always said it wasn't that he was any good, it was that his high school class was so small, that everyone had to play all sports in order to have enough to make a team!

While stationed in Aberdeen, Maryland, Dad met the love of his life and the center of his world, Anna May Munck, at a dance (no kidding!). They married October 8, 1949 in Moses Lake, and have been dancing ever since.

Dad attended Washington State University and ultimately received his Pharmacy degree from George Washington University in D.C. Jack established the first pharmacy at Samaritan Hospital and served as the sole pharmacist for several years. This was in addition to owning and operating Black's Professional Center Pharmacy, on Ivy Street. Over the years he expanded and owned pharmacies in Othello, Ephrata, and two others in Moses Lake.

Following in his parents footsteps, who developed Longview Tracts in Moses Lake, he developed Horizon Estates in Mae Valley on Road F Northeast. Jack built 4 houses; 2 on Kinder Road, and 1 on W. Linden Avenue, in Moses Lake where he and Anna May raised their two children, and a cabin on Lake Roosevelt. He has owned many houses and other real estate properties.

Jack is survived by his wife, Anna May of Moses Lake, daughter Deborah Ann Black of Bellevue, WA, son John Preston Black of Moses Lake, WA, three grandsons; James Brandon Nelson of San Antonio, TX, Augustus Reynolds Nelson of Bellevue, WA, Jagger Preston Black of Moses Lake, his sister Glenness Byam, and brother Dick Black.

Jack Preston Black has been a successful business professional and life-long resident of Moses Lake. Everyone was his friend. He held loving memories of school mates, business associates, club members, customers, neighbors, friends, and family. He will forever be missed.