Jack Russell Yelverton passed away on May 5, 2016 at Friday Harbor, Washington, at the age of 86. Jack was known for his bonhomie, to his many friends and associates as a dependable confidante, advisor, mensche, and facilitator, and to his family as a caring and supportive role model. Jack was born in Douglas, Arizona, a small town on the Mexican border, on January 8, 1930. His grandparents were early pioneering settlers. Jack’s paternal grandfather, William Gappa Yelverton, led a Confederate Army Calvary troop in the Civil War. His father, William Yelverton, was a veteran of WWI and worked as a locomotive engineer for Southern Pacific Railroad. His mother was Velma Edington Yelverton. Jack had a public school education in Douglas, graduating from high school in 1947. He matriculated to Arizona State College (now University) and graduated in 1950 with a degree in industrial engineering management, and became among the first to be drafted to serve in the Army in the Korean War. He served in a combat role with the Thirty Fifth Infantry, rising quickly through Platoon Sergeant to Platoon Leader, earning a Bronze Star. With several months of combat duty, he was selected to serve as a combat correspondent, reporting and writing news and a column for the Army’s Stars and Stripes newspaper. Jack was discharged in mid-1952 and chose to go East to enroll at Columbia University in New York City as a candidate for a doctoral degree in economics, but found his focus at New York University where he completed an M.B.A. degree in 1955. Moving back West, he accepted a position with Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco. In 1958 he accepted a challenging position in a new industry that was to rewrite economic history. Jack took the job of manufacturing engineer with the pioneering Palo Alto company, Fairchild Semiconductor. Fairchild put the silicon in Silicon Valley, with a line of technically superior transistors. Jack was soon given Human Resource responsibility for the rapidly expanding workforce at Fairchild, ultimately becoming Director of Administration. In 1961 he left Fairchild and joined a group of scientists to found another pioneer in the burgeoning industry, Signetics Corporation. Signetics was the first firm formed specifically to manufacture semiconductor integrated circuits. Jack was its Chief Financial and Administrative Officer. In 1966 Jack left Signetics and partnered with William Wilkinson and Robert Sedwick, forming Wilkinson, Sedwick & Yelverton, a consulting organization specializing in organization development, use of behavioral sciences in management, and executive recruitment. The firm prospered and within a decade had grown to some sixty employees with offices across the United States and affiliates in several foreign nations. Jack was President and CEO of the company. Jack lived with his wife Marilyn McKelvy Yelverton for many years in Marin County, California before semi-retiring to the Monterey and Carmel area of California. Following Marilyn’s death in 2004, Jack retired to Friday Harbor, Washington in 2006. In Friday Harbor he launched himself into several community activities, serving with great effect as a Director of the San Juan Community Theatre, the San Juan Island Yacht Club and the island’s Museum of Art, where he also served as its President. Reflecting his diverse interests and talents, he also effectively served as a member of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, a member of the Economic Development Council, and Chairman of the Civil Service Board. Upon moving to Friday Harbor, he married Ann Walbert, a noted artist with widely admired skills as a painter and art teacher. He had met Ann while they both lived in Monterey/Carmel. She predeceased Jack in 2011. Jack’s first daughter, Claire of Belmont, Massachusetts, predeceased him but he leaves two daughters, Carol of Waltham, Massachusetts, and Jerilyn of Tumon Bay, Guam, as well as seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Jack is survived by two sisters, Martha Vavra and Norma DeHay. Arrangements are in the care of Evans Funeral Chapel and Crematory, Inc., Anacortes, WA and the San Juan Islands. To share memories of Jack, sign the online guest register at www.evanschapel.com.