Jack Rowland Stancil

• Born Feb. 16, 1937 Durham, NC
• Died Jan. 27, 2014 Kaneohe, Hawaii

Jack Rowland Stancil Jack Rowland Stancil was born Feb. 16, 1937, and died Jan. 27, 2014.

Jack's children with Donna Anne Roloff

James Eric Stancil

Joseph Guy Stancil

Jackie Marie Stancil

Jack Rowland Stancil while in the Army. U.S. Army photo

Jack Rowland Stancil was the son of ack Rowland Stancil was the son of Mary House Barber and James Oscar Stancil, grandson of Frances Barnes and Henry Stancil, great-grandson of Delaney Sasser and John Thomas Stancil.

Jack was born Feb. 16, 1937, in Durham, NC. He was a handsome lad with brown eyes, dark brown hair and a captivating smile. He grew up with half brother, Ralph ‘Ross’, seven years older. Jack, a precocious, child, craved adventure from an early age. At just 4 years old, he walked away from home, found a church and sat on the steps looking out at the world with wonder in his eyes. Eventually he was taken back home.

Oscar and his daughter, Gurnie, shared Essie, the same black maid, who’s duties included looking after Jack, Charlie, Jane and Guy. Jack was the oldest. One day when Jack was about 10, he walked up and down Roxboro Street, where he lived, and ask for money from all the neighbors. He told them it was so he could give the money to Essie, so she could buy snuff. According to his niece, Jane, Jack often tried to bribe Essie, so she would not tell on him to Grandpa Oscar or Ma Mary for misbehaving!

Jane remembers one day that Jack skipped school and to hide it from Oscar and Mary, he tried to sell his school pictures to neighbors. His goal was to get enough money to again bribe Essie with snuff to stop her from revealing his antics!

Influenced by his maternal grandma Ellie Bass Johnson, Jack attended a Baptist Church and joined the choir. She lived with Oscar and Mary in the 1940s.

Mechanically inclined, always ready for excitement and fearless, Jack was just 14 when he took his dad’s Oldsmobile for a “joy ride.” Fortunately no damage was done. This was just one of many adventures. Jack was certainly a challenge for his parents.

Jack attended Carr Junior High School for 7th and 8th grades and skipped as often as he could. He was very bright, and today would probably qualify as gifted and found school boring and confining. He quit after 8th grade and ran away from home again. This time Jack hitch-hiked to North Dakota and then traveled on to Boise, Idaho. He supported himself by working on potato farms. Eventually he returned to Durham. He easily earned his GED.

Jack had many jobs during his life. In 1956, Jack was a tree surgeon. In 1957 Jack was a bookkeeper for Gibson Tree Service. Jack’s first car was a 1939 Ford and gasoline was 25 cents per gallon.

Jack joined the Army in 1957.

In 1958, he married Geraldine "Gerry" Talley. At this time, Jack drove a truck for Taylor Biscuit Company. In 1959, he was a warehouseman for Dealers Supply. Then Jack was a printer for Capital Cities Television in 1960.

Later when Jack worked for a finance company, he created a form letter that was selected for company wide use. This creativity won him a trip to California and enough money to purchase his dream car, a flashy 1946 Black Chevy Convertible with Zebra Stripes on the seats.

About 1962, Jack visited his half-brother, George Guy Stancil in Hawaii. Guy had lived there since the 1930s. Folks said they definitely looked like brothers. Jack was enamored of Hawaii. The first time he landed in Hawaii, he looked around and said to himself, “I think this is as close to Heaven as I'm going get."

Reluctantly Jack returned to the States. Ready for a change, he left NC and traveled to Wisconsin to visit half-brother, Ralph Barber. He stayed. Ralph, knowing he was a fast learner and smart, got him a job as a printer for Newport Business Forms.

While in Janesville, Jack met Donna Ann Roloff through Ralph. Donna, the daughter Eric Carl Roloff and Helen Pfeiffer, grew up on a farm. Donna was the 8th of 10 children. Her grandparents, Carl Frederick and Hannah Roloff immigrated from Germany in 1874.

Jack and Donna were married in traditional ceremony at St. John’s Lutheran Church, on July 7, 1962, in Whitewater, Wisconsin.

They had three children: James Eric, Joseph Guy and Jackie Marie.

Jack was 28 when he ran for 1st Ward Councilman in 1965. Although he did not win, it was eye-opening experience.

In June 1967, Jack and Donna moved the family to Janesville, Wisconsin. He was a Lithographer at Janesville Printing Co. They appreciated his unique skills.

Jack, a newcomer to acting, joined the Janesville Little Theater. He was cast as Eddie, a longshoreman, in the Arthur Miller play, “A View from the Bridge.” The five performances were in January 1968. According to newspaper reviews, Jack gave a stellar performance in a difficult role and his style was naturalistic.

Jack and Donna had marital problems. One day in 1969, Jack left for cigarettes and never returned. He and Donna divorced. He returned to his paradise, Hawaii.

There Jack had an assortment of jobs. Wherever Jack lived, he knew he could use his excellent printing skills to get a job until a better opportunity came along.

Jack and wife Lei, attended the 1972 Stancil Reunion, along with his mother Mary, sister Gurnie Stancil Crabtree, and her daughter Jane. Jack and Lei lived in Durham, NC, before returning to Hawaii.

Gurnie, her daughter Jane and granddaughter Stephanie O’Brien, visited Jack and Lei in 1980.

Jack and Lei were a talented and popular singing duo in Waikiki, Hawaii. They entertained in many nightclubs, hotels and restaurants. They sang with Don Ho, a famous Hawaiian singer, who was a personal friend.

Gurnie, Jane and Stephanie went to many venues where Jack and Lei sang. They also saw the famous Hawaiian singer; Don Ho’s Suck it Up Show, at the Waikiki's Cinerama Reef Towers Hotel Lounge. Eventually Lei and Jack divorced.

Jack met Lynda Tanaka at a night club in 1980. There were was an immediate attraction but they waited until 1992 to get married. Jack continued entertaining by singing in piano bars.

Years later Gurnie and Jane visited and met Lynda. Jack drove them down Main Street in Waikiki, driving his white Lincoln Continental with a sunroof, while Jane and Lynda attracted plenty of attention, as they stood up in the back with their upper bodies out the sunroof. What fun!

Jack’s resume included painting, like his Uncle, Walter Stancil and later he ran a nightclub. His last job was as a chauffeur/driver for Orlando Magic basketball star Shaquille O’Neal. He drove him for a week. Jack remembers that he was very, very tall and did not tip very well!

Jack’s last visit to NC was in 1999.

Jack loved the game of golf and so did his sister Gurnie even though she never hit a single golf ball. Jackie played until a stroke Gurnie and Jack rooted for Tiger Woods and on weekends, when there was a tournament, Jack called Gurnie from Hawaii, to be sure she had the event on TV. Later they would critique how Tiger played. Jack and Gurnie kept in close touch by phone and he ended each call with, “I love you.” They last spoke in late October of 2010.

Jack visited with daughter Jackie Marie in Kaneohe, Hawaii, in April 2013.

Jackie and son Zac visited cousins Josiah Akau, Jackie, Kathleen Stancil Akau, Zac and Tita Akau Kim.

Jack was a complex member of our family who remains an enigma. He was thrilled to his meet Jackie Marie and told her that, “I’ve always been running and it was stupid and I was sorry, so sorry. I love you, your brothers, I have always loved you.”

We remember the good times as we acknowledge his human frailties and all the why questions. Jack had a devoted wife, Lynda, who Jackie Marie describes as, “truly sweet, kind, a warm hearted woman, I am blessed to know my step-mother.”

Jack spent the last 30-plus years of his life in Hawaii which as he believed, “is as close to Heaven as I'm going get!"

Jack died in hospice with his beloved wife, Lynda, by his side on Jan. 27, 2014. Jack’s friends gathered and the chaplain conducted a remembrance of Jack’s life.

Jack had a history of serious heart problems and strokes. He spent months in rehab and looked forward to Lynda’s daily visits.