As a teenager John “Jack” McCluskey joined thousands of U.S. troops invading Normandy, France, on D-Day in June, 1944. One of the few remaining veterans of World War II, he died peacefully on July 27, 2021, in his home at Seaside, Fort Myers, Florida. He was 96.
Jack was born Feb. 11, 1925, the second son of Thomas and Anne McCluskey, who immigrated from Ireland. He graduated from Parker High School where he played basketball.
After the war John returned to Chicago, Illinois, where he wooed and wed his wife, Nancy Lee Conway. “He learned to dance to a song called “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” recalls Nancy. “He was a great singer, too.”
As they raised four children, John worked as a policeman and detective in the Chicago Police Department for 30 years. His sons remember him patrolling Chicago’s Grant Park on a 3-wheeled Harley Davidson.
John is survived by his wife, Nancy, and four children: Michael John (Denise DeClue); Thomas Frederick (Maureen Spear); Judith Ann Cannon (Terry Cannon); John Brian (Mary Saunders); nine grandchildren; many great grandchildren.
Jack was a loving husband, a great dad and a wonderful grandpa. We are grateful for the many years the Lord leased him to us. We love you, Da.
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