Jack Raymond McCormick

Jack Raymond McCormick, age 88 of Ozark, Arkansas, died Friday, June 30, 2023. He was born in 1934, in Lecompte, Louisiana, to Albert and Mabel Deville McCormick. Jack grew up in Woodworth, Louisiana, and attended Lecompte High School in Rapides Parish where he started dating his future bride, Opal McCann. He played fast pitch softball throughout high school and graduated in May 1952. After high school, he began working on the Southern Forest Survey, first with the Louisiana Forestry Commission, and then with the United States Forest Service in 1954. Jack attended Louisiana State University and graduated with a degree in Forestry in August 1961. He and Opal married in June 1957, and they both were avid LSU football fans in spite of some good-humored harassment from friends and neighbors while living in Arkansas and Georgia. In early 1957, Jack joined the U.S. Army Reserves and was called to active duty after graduating from LSU. He served as a staff sergeant with the 4009th Army Garrison at Fort Polk during the Berlin Crisis from September 1961 to September 1962. After his discharge, he went back to work with the U.S. Forest Service on the Forest Survey. In September 1963, Jack transferred to the National Forest System, and worked as a forester and then as the Ranger on Forest Districts in Texas, Arkansas and Georgia. In 1981, he transferred back to Arkansas to serve as the District Ranger in Ozark until his retirement in January 1990. He and Opal were long time members of First Baptist Church of Ozark where they served with many good friends in the Preschool Department, the church kitchen, and with the Deacons. Jack is preceded in death by his wife Opal McCann McCormick. He is survived by two sons, Barry McCormick, his wife Sheila and their three sons Sean, Ethan and Aaron; and Ken McCormick and wife Terri. Visitation will be Friday, July 7, 2023, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Shaffer Funeral Home 2315 West Commercial Street in Ozark, Arkansas. Funeral Service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 8, 2023, at Shaffer Funeral Home with family friend, Brother Jan Akins officiating. A private burial service will follow at Highland Cemetery, under the direction of Shaffer Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Gideons International or the International Mission Board SBC. To leave an online memorial visit www.shafferfuneralhomeweb.com

Jack Raymond McCormick

November 9, 1934 - June 30, 2023