Jack Roderick: A Life’s Passion

By Jack Walsh, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interviews Volunteer

All his life, Jack Roderick has had a passion for art. It became the basis for his education, his career in life, and his primary interest in retirement. His artistic skills are phenomenal.

Jack was born in Danville, Illinois. At age six or seven, his family moved to Lafayette, Indiana, where he went to high school. As he and three good friends were graduating from high school mid-term, they were concerned about being drafted. Jack was almost 18 when the four friends enlisted together, joining the Navy in January, 1946. The four friends were sent to boot camp at Camp Peary, VA which had been a Seabee training camp and a prisoner-of-war stockade. He remembers the barracks as old, long buildings, poorly insulated, with pot-belly stoves by the doors at each end. The primary purpose of the night watch was to make sure the stoves didn’t go out.

At Camp Peary, the four had their initial split, with 2 each going to different companies and different barracks. After 8 weeks of boot camp, Jack and his buddies were given leave to go home. When the foursome returned to Camp Peary, they remained on hold for assignment. During hold, he remembers being taken for a tour of a small carrier. Finally, the four were assigned to four different ships – so much for joining the Navy together!
Jack was assigned to the new USS Amphion (AR-13), which was an auxiliary repair ship, docked in Norfolk. According to Wikipedia, 2018, the Amphion was designed and built to carry out a primary mission of making emergency and routine repairs to ships of the fleet; Amphion was equipped with a wide variety of repair shops. “We had all kinds of talents and knowledge on board our ship: guys who were electricians, welders, carpenters, machinists, foundry – we could do anything. A lot of times we were tied to another ship we were working on, out at sea or in a harbor.”

Jack was a Yeoman, but once they heard he was an artist, he was immediately assigned to work on the startup of a ship newspaper and in the library. He became a Chaplain’s Assistant, and often worked the ‘gedunk bar’ where ice cream was sold in the afternoons. But he also had special sea detail assignments, such as working the comm phones on the bridge. “It was really kind of nice, being up there on the bridge, where you could see everything – where you were going, what was going on. The Captain, Commanding Officer (COMO) Abrams could go out on the bridge wings.” For a short time, Jack became the Captain’s Yeoman. The USS Amphion eventually became the flagship for Admiral (ADM) Gatch, who was commander of the service force of the Atlantic Fleet.

The ship didn’t have much in the way of armament, just a couple of anti-aircraft guns. “Of course, we all had to practice firing the guns; all we had to protect our ears from the noise was cotton.”

“One interesting thing that happened: we had a new navigator. He was kind of the Captain’s favorite since they both went to the Naval Academy. We were coming in to Norfolk Harbor one time, and the Captain was outside on the bridge wings. He didn’t hear the Navigator give the order that I had relayed on the phones to down below: ‘Drop the hook.’ The Captain came in and said ‘What the hell are you doing to my ship!’ We were doing 5 knots. The Captain immediately told me to relay the order ‘reverse all engines.’ But I couldn’t get ahold of anybody, because the Engine Room Commander was calling to find out when the first liberty boat was going ashore! The Captain grabbed the phone and got the order sent. Fortunately, we stopped before all the anchor chain had played out. If the chain had broken, it could have done a lot of damage and hurt a lot of people.”

“One time, we went to Bermuda with the Commodore, which was great duty. On the way there, we went through a terrible storm, one of the worst in history. I always got excited for a storm, because I never got seasick, unlike our Chaplain. I was young, and had never seen anything like that, and really enjoyed them.”

“I was in for only 22 months. I had signed up for 2 years, but was able to get out early. They wanted us to sign up for an expedition to the South Pole, but I would have had to sign up for 4 more years. That was not going to happen.
Jack came back home to Lafayette. He took advantage of the GI Bill, and started school at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis. “After about a year and a half, I transferred to the American Academy of Art in Chicago.” He knew he would learn more about commercial art than he was learning in Indianapolis.

While still going to art school in Lafayette, a friend set up a blind date for him – it turned out to be Laurabelle. He impressed her by carrying her over a snowbank in his arms. At their table, he impressed her further by making a sketch of her on a paper napkin. She still has the sketch. Less than a year later, they were engaged. She was getting her teaching degree from Purdue, and was considering an offer in Ohio. So rather than let her leave, he asked her to marry him. Jack and Laurabelle were married in 1951.

After 2-1/2 years, Jack graduated and quickly got a job working for an advertising agency on North Michigan Avenue. He then went to work for Encyclopedia Britannica Films Division, creating filmstrips. His first job was a series on “American Heroes.” By the mid-1950’s, he was working for Upjohn Pharmaceuticals in Kalamazoo MI. He retired from Upjohn in 1990 as Advertising Art Director. Jack and Laurabelle raised their daughter Tura in Kalamazoo. They have been married now for 67 years, and have two grandchildren.

Eventually, he and Laurabelle donated his uniforms to the local civic theater. His wife points out that Jack had had his uniforms tailored “to have slim legs before they flared out, so that he would look better. That was during his jock period.”

Upon his retirement, Jack rented a studio for himself in Kalamazoo to be able to paint and create. Today, their home is adorned with many of his beautiful works of art, as are the homes of their daughter and several relatives. He is a true artist.

In 2017, Jack and Laurabelle sold the house they had built in Kalamazoo. After living in their Kalamazoo home for 52 years, they moved to Lake Forest so they could be near their daughter, Tura, and enjoy a well-deserved, vibrant life. Jack is looking forward to his creating Honor Flight memories with his two friends, Bud Davis and Bob Porter.

Welcome home, Jack Roderick, and thank you for your service to our country! Enjoy your well-deserved Honor Flight!