Community, patriotic service was at his core

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH -- Jack Dwan’s life was full of devotion and service

right up until he passed away Friday after a lengthy battle with cancer.

He was 81.

After 28 years of serving his country, Mr. Dwan settled in Corona del

Mar, where he spent the next 32 years serving his community.

“There’s no one that had more integrity than Jack,” said his widow,

Jerri Dwan. “He was true to himself and others. He was always kind,

tolerant and giving. There wasn’t a selfish bone in his body, and he did

service to his country and his community. He was very patriotic.”

Mr. Dwan proved his patriotism in the Army, serving at Pearl Harbor

and for five consecutive years with the 3rd Infantry Division, including

10 campaigns in Africa and Europe, and four amphibious D-Day landings.

He also served in Washington, D.C., as a White House aide, a member of

the government’s delegation to the Geneva Conference ending the Korean

and Indochina wars, and to the Manila Conference. He also acted as a

defense advisor to the U.S. Ambassador in Saigon.

The list goes on.

And when Mr. Dwan retired from service in 1969 to take a position with

McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. in Huntington Beach, his service was

far from over.

It was then that he became a community volunteer.

“He devoted himself to volunteer work,” Jerri Dwan said. “He served on

the [Newport Harbor] Art Museum board, one year as president -- that was

one place where he and I were both actively involved. That was our first

association.”

The museum and history also served as a center of conversation for Mr.

Dwan and friend Carl Neisser.

“He was a great student of history, and we loved to talk about it,”

said Neisser, who got his own start on the museum board thanks to Mr.

Dwan.

Mr. Dwan also served on the board of directors of the Orange County

Wellness Community, the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, the Historical and

Cultural Foundation of Orange County, the Newport Beach Central Library

Foundation, the library’s Adult Literacy Council and the Philharmonic

Society of Orange County.

“He was a most unusual guy,” said Neisser, who knew Mr. Dwan for 15

years. “A historian, a really brilliant writer, a very sensitive man, a

family man.”

Of the many places Dwan volunteered his time, helping others to learn

to read was just about the most important to him, both Jerri Dwan and

Neisser said.

“He was a real advocate of the literacy program,” Jerri Dwan said. “He

felt that all children should learn to read. He is a firm believer in

education and felt everybody should have a chance at it. Jack volunteered

his time to actually teach people how to read.”

Mr. Dwan is survived by wife Jerri, son Brad and daughter Kimberly, as

well as grandchildren Connor, Tori and Tanner.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at St. Michael and

All Angels Episcopal Church, 3233 Pacific View Drive, Corona del Mar. In

lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to either the

Hoag Hospital Cancer Center or the Newport Beach Central Library

Foundation.