Edgar "Jack" Allen Gedosh

Jack grew up in Poteau, Oklahoma, with his parents, Mollie and Ben Gedosh, and sister, the late Bettye Cupp. He spent his active childhood playing football, baseball, basketball, boxing, and swimming. Some of his most cherished memories as a young boy were exploring the woods and countryside with his bird dog, Bacher. He was a member of the 1949 Poteau Boxing Team and was named All District Runing Back and All State Quarterback for the Poteau High School Pirates.

Upon graduating high school, he served four years in the U.S. Navy in San Diego and Pearl Harbor, where his love for weightlifting and fitness flourished. He then attended and graduated from Northeastern University in Talequah, OK, with a BS in Zoology. In 1960, he graduated from Oklahoma University School of Medicine, after which he completed three internships and two residencies, one of which took place at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD.

He practiced as a general surgeon at Mitchell and Pointer Clinic, in Sallisaw, OK before he and his young family moved to Fort Smith, AR in 1969, where he accepted a position with Western AR Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic and began a lifelong, dedicated career as an ear, nose, & throat specialist. In 1993, Jack joined Cooper Clinic, where he continued his medical career, until 2000. After semi retiring, he continued to volunteer at the Good Samaritan Clinic through the age of 90.

Jack was a member of Sparks Regional Medical Center, St. Edward Mercy Medical Center, Crawford Memorial Hospital, Center for Day Surgery, and Sequoyah Memorial Hospital, as well as the American Medical Association, American Academy of Otolaryngology, Arkansas Medical Society, and the Sebastian County Medical Society.

Jack was an avid long-distance runner and became a bit of a Fort Smith “icon,” as he could be seen running all over the Fort Smith area as he trained. During his running journey, Jack completed 50 marathons (26 miles), five 50-mile races, and one 65-mile race all over the U.S. and Canada, including the Boston Marathon in 1979. He was the owner of dozens of running shoes and an advocate of healthy eating long before the fitness craze, running shoes, and drinking your greens was even in vogue!

Jack’s life was equally enriched by his love of golf, and long after his running and golf days were over, he could be seen at the age of 90 walking the golf course. His passion for fitness never waned as he could be found walking his dog, Molly Bea, or “piddling” with the weights in his workout room.

During their almost 40-year marriage, Jack and his wife, JoAnn, traveled the U.S. and the globe, visiting dozens of countries on six continents. They were active members of the First United Methodist Church in Fort Smith, where they made many cherished and special friends.

As well as his love for fitness, Jack had a thirst for knowledge, reading, and learning. These passions and his love for music (opera being a particular favorite) were some of the gifts that he passed down to his children and grandchildren.

Aside from his profound dedication to healing and serving, Jack will always be known for his quiet manner, humble kindness, reserved demeanor, and quick, dry, sharp, deadpan sense of humor. His sense of service, responsibility, and work ethic will live on through the lives he healed and through his unerring generosity. His late mother, Mollie Gedosh, practiced nursing in Poteau, OK for 40 years after receiving her degree from Carl Albert Community College. Her career was the inspiration behind Jack’s interest in medicine and his desire to create a nursing scholarship at Carl Albert in her name.

Jack is loved and survived by his wife, JoAnn; his four children Pam Ray, Andrea Gedosh, David Gedosh, Michael Gedosh, and their mother, Loretta Gedosh; eight grandchildren, Ethan Ray, Rachel Gedosh, Cassie Graifman, Jake Ray, Jordan Gedosh, Marshall Ray, Aaron Graifman, and Matthew Graifman; as well as a myriad of family, friends, colleagues, associates, and patients, whose lives he so deeply touched.

It is with honor that Jack’s grandsons and members of his Sunday school discussion class will be his pall bearers and honorary pall bearers, respectively.

“The purpose of human life is to serve,

and to show compassion and the will to help others.”

Albert Schweitzer

Visitation will be from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at Edwards Funeral Home, 201 North 12th Street, Fort Smith.

Funeral Service will be 1:00 pm Thursday, January 25, 2024 at the First United Methodist Church Sanctuary. Interment will be at Oakland Cemetery in Poteau, OK.

Memorial contributions may be made to First United Methodist Church, 200 North 15th Street, Fort Smith, AR 72901 or go to www.fsfumc.org, or to University of Arkansas Fort Smith, c/o the JoAnn Pinkston Gedosh and Jack Gedosh Endowed Scholarship, 5210 Grand Avenue, P.O. Box 3649, Fort Smith, AR 72913-3649, or go to www.ufas.edu