Jack J. Besco

Jack J. Besco, 71, of Shawnee, passed away Monday August 9, 2010, at Kansas City Hospice House after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

Jack was born November 21, 1938, to the late Jerome and Viola Besco in Ottumwa, Iowa.

Jack is survived by his loving wife, Jeanie Jermyn-Besco, two sons, Michael J. Besco (Tina) and Daniel W. Besco (Katie), and sister Marlene Herrington (Garnett).

After his football days in high school, Jack's interests evolved into building fast cars and piloting small planes.

He moved to Kansas City in the 60s to accept a job with The Kansas City Star which led to the position of Advertising Manager of the newly published Kansas City Star Magazine. A hobby of repairing televisions and building electronic calculators grew into a home-based business.

As this business grew he left his job at The Star, and Besco Electronics was established in 1975 in Shawnee. The business included retail sales, service and custom installation of CB radios. Around this time Jack designed and built his own home computer which was featured in an article in The Kansas City Star. The article compared Jack to the hobbyist who builds a ship in a bottle not because he needed one or even wanted one, but just to see if he could do it.

In 1978 the CB radio products were phased out as home computers were becoming available. The company was expanded to a full service computer center and became one of the largest retailers of Epson computers and printers in the metropolitan area.

In 2001 Jack retired from the computer business to have more time for the many other activities he enjoyed. Among his interests were photography, astronomy, woodworking, metal working, motorcycles, NASCAR racing, cooking, smoking meats, making home-made sausages, and gardening.

He was a remarkable man who loved life and learning to do new things. He devised several pieces of equipment to help in the upkeep of his large gardens. He had raised-bed vegetable gardens, and flower, bog, and water gardens. He started most of his plants from seeds and gladly shared plants and produce with friends and neighbors.

Jack was a wizard at solving problems that involved building something or fabricating parts. He designed and built two CNC machines and developed a font for their use. He designed and built all the oak cabinetry for his kitchen and replicated an antique china cabinet for Jeanie.

Once given an idea, Jack would come up with a detailed design and commence building. Jack loved equipment and tools and using his extraordinary mechanical skills. He was the first on the block to have his own large tree chipper, sawmill, log splitter, plate compactor, and much woodworking and metal working equipment.

He loved his big John Deere tractor, and after snowstorms neighbors could expect to find their driveways had been plowed overnight. Jack dreamed for many years of owning his own manlift and finally was able to find one at an excellent price because it didn't work. Needless to say, in a couple of weeks, he had it in better shape than when it was new.

Jack touched the lives of many through his multitude of talents and abilities and his willingness to help others. He will be missed by all who knew and enjoyed him.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be made to Swanson's Streamway Dog Park and Daycare, P.O. Box 860407, Shawnee, Kansas 66218.

Memorial Visitation

A Memorial Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, August 19, 2010 at the Amos Family Chapel of Shawnee.