Dr. W.J. (Jack) Lord Jr.

Dr. William Jackson (Jack) Lord Jr. passed away on Saturday, January 12, 2013, joining his heavenly father, after an extended “journey” with dementia and other health-related issues. He was born on May 10, 1926 in Isla, TX (Sabine County), the youngest of five children, to Ida Clara Neal and William Jackson Lord, a farmer-rancher-miller. Upon reaching middle –school age, his father sent him to live with his sister in Marshall, Texas rather than having to travel 50 miles each day to school. Jack graduated from Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana; and upon graduating from high school he served in the U.S. Army (World War II) from 1944-46 serving in the Philippines and in Japan.

Upon completing his military service he attended the University of Texas on the G.I. Bill achieving a Bachelor’s degree in International Trade (1950) and a Master’s in Business Writing and Journalism (only four such degrees were ever given). He took a teaching position at West Texas State University in Canyon. In 1954, he moved his family to Champaign, Illinois to seek a Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. Dr. Jack Lord received his doctorate in 1961. His dissertation turned into a book entitled How Authors Make a Living published in1962. He taught at the U of I after graduating for three years.

He was recruited by the University of Texas to join the faculty of the Department of General Business. Dr. Lord taught business report writing, behavioral communication and communication behavior in organizations from 1964 to 1998. He wrote Functional Business Communication with Dr. Jessamon Dawe (1974), a leading text in the field of business communication. He completed a Visiting Professorship at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana in 1978.

He received the Jack G. Taylor Award for Excellence in Teaching and an Endowed Chair in Business Communications in UT’s College of Business Administration (1984). Additionally, he held the Texas Commerce Bancshares Inc. Centennial Professorship in Business Communications and he served as Chairman of the Department of General Business multiple times during his tenure. He was instrumental in founding the nation-wide American Business Communication Association for which he served as president. He retired from UT as The Texas Commerce Bancshares Centennial Professor Emeritus in Business Communication.

Jack married Shirley Ruth Loveless on June 12, 1948, whom he met at University Baptist Church while students at UT. He was the chief caregiver for his wife prior to her death in 1985. He provided a tenderness of care for his spouse; and later for individuals with HIV/AIDs as an active participant on an AIDS Care team. He was known for his laughter, his prize-winning roses and his greenhouse full of orchids. He was active in the University Baptist Church and later in Highland Park Baptist Church where he served as a deacon and teacher for both, prior to moving to Henderson, NV for five years.

He is survived by his three children: daughter, Dr. Michal Anne Lord; sons, William David Lord and his wife, Terry Ware Lord, and Mark Gregory Lord and his wife, Tracy Thompson Lord; and by his grandchildren, William Ryan Lord, Kristen Lord Dalton and her husband, Captain Matthew Dalton, Stephen Jackson Lord and Payton Nicole Lord.

The family wishes to thank special friend Della Robbins and caregivers David Kagunda, Regina Ugorji, Patti Almond, R.N. and other caregivers at Vista Oaks Assisted Living, Visiting Angels and Hospice Austin.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from six o’clock until eight o’clock in the evening, on Tuesday, the 15th of January 2013, at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas.

A Memorial Service will be conducted at one o’clock in the afternoon on Wednesday, the 16th of January 2013, Highland Park Baptist Church, 5206 Balcones Drive, Austin, Texas.

In lieu of flowers and customary remembrances, memorials may be sent to Hospice Austin, 4107 Spicewood Springs Road, Suite 100, Austin, Texas, 78759.

Condolences may be sent to www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com.