John "Jack" A. Street

The son of a Lorain Telephone Company Executive and housewife, Jack had the perfect childhood. He treasured his Celtic background and tried his hand at learning the bagpipes but decided it was easier to just listen to them. He attended Lorain High School (LHS) where he was a star of the Football and Wrestling teams, he threw shotput for Track at LHS and he was an “All Buckeye Honorable Mention for Football”.

He would joke that his neck and shoulders were so big he had to have shirts and suits custom made. In 1977, his dad passed suddenly at the age of 52 and Jack became the “man” of the family. He was the older brother to his beloved sister Carol (Fankhauser) until her passing in 2010. Jack was extremely close to Carol who was his confidant and best friend all through their high school and college years. He was there with her when she passed, he lost part of himself when he lost Carol.

He received a full scholarship in football to Lees McRae Jr College, Boone, NC as he thought he wanted to be a Christian Pastor. That quickly changed and returned to Lorain to begin working in the trades. He became a Crane Operator and member of the Operating Engineers Local 18 and worked all over the country. He had a special gift with all sizes of cranes to be able to work in small areas with precision of lifts. He loved his career and made many, many great friends in the trades all over the US. He was sought after for work and had a successful career. In 1995, due to his eye sight changing from diabetes, he retired from the union and became an extremely successful Salesman for All Crane Rental in Cleveland, Ohio. He was known to work tireless hours making sure on job sites had exactly what they needed for shutdowns at the Ford plants, Oil refineries and the smallest job got the same attention as the largest. He was loved by all and always showed up to sites with donuts, coffee, sandwiches or good cigars. He was a prankster on the work site and his story telling was endless. He would give anyone his last dollar or shirt off his back as he felt he was blessed and someone else may need it more.

Jack had a son, Matthew J., born in 1971 from a previous marriage that he loved dearly. Matt, in his younger years, was involved in hockey and Jack took him all over to play – they would go to Canada to buy equipment as Jack wanted him to always have the best, he told stories of driving Matt around in his Porsche blasting the radio and listening to Grateful Dead. Jack was a free-spirited hippie at heart. Matt graduated from Bay High School in 1990. He was so proud of Matt and talked about when he moved to Athens, Ohio to attend Ohio University. Matt put down roots in Athens and although they were apart, they spoke often.

In March of 1992, he met the love of his life and soulmate, Josette, and became the “dad” to her two young daughters, Annemarie “Annie” and Mary Kathryn “Katie”. He was not a stepfather, he was a “dad”. They confided in Jack about everything. He was the kindest most loving, extremely protective “dad” with his “daughters”. Jack and Josette married the day before his 45th birthday on October 10, 1992. Jack was raised Presbyterian but converted to Catholicism in 1998 so he could partake in Mass and the sacraments with his “girls”. He was involved in fundraising activities for their grade school at St. Mary’s Avon, Ohio and St. Joseph Academy High School for girls in Cleveland, Ohio. When the girls left for college to Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, Ohio) he would go and cook for the girls and their friends in their apartment.

He was an avid dog lover and he always had dogs, Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers Goldendoodles, Cockapoos, Malti-poos and Labradoodles. Never just one dog...always two or more, the more dogs the happier he was. He always said we had to keep their ashes because he wanted to be buried with all of them!

Jack lived in Avon and Cleveland, Ohio caring for his family and in 2008 moved to Las Vegas when his girls were finishing college. He loved the warm weather and couldn’t tolerate the snow, cold and rain any longer. He would sit outside in the pool or under the palm trees for hours listening to his audio books or Jimmy Buffet always getting a tan. He was true “parrot-head”.

To say Jack was eccentric would be an understatement. He rode Harley’s, sailed around the Bahamas in private sailboats, travelled to Scotland and was in Florida often as he loved the ocean and water. The water and sun were his drug of choice. A class act all the way. Respectful, calming and level headed. He was the anchor of our “Street Family”.

Jack was very involved in Alcoholics Anonymous...he became sober on March 19, 2003 and never looked back. He attended meetings, sponsored others and never judged. He had a special bond with his sponsors Carl Lowe (deceased 2020) and Robert “Bob” Geib. They were “brothers”.

In December 2016, a little princess entered his life, Camaryn Olivia, daughter of Mary Kathryn, his first granddaughter – his “Cammie” was born. Jack was Camaryn’s godfather for her baptism at St Viator Church (Las Vegas). He spent countless hours with her, cooking, reading, listening to music. If Jack was in his “Papa” chair Camaryn was on his lap. They spent hours in the pool together laughing with her jumping into his arms. They were “frick and frack”, “peas and carrots”; they were as close as a Papa and granddaughter could be. Whatever Cammie wanted, Cammie got. If you saw his Facebook it was peppered with her photographs; any new photo he received was posted as his wallpaper on his phone or added to Facebook. He loved to cook and was always posting recipes. You knew when he was feeling better as new recipes were added.

November 2018, Jack was able to walk his “daughter” Annemarie down the aisle to marry the love of her life, Jermaine Nevels, who he approved and adored. Then in October 2019 another “princess”, Tatum Elyse, born to Annie and Jermaine. Shortly after in December that same year Kendall Ashley (Sibert) was born to Katie. Jack had his “girls” and he loved all of his “girls” dearly and unconditionally. He found out this year he was going to be “Papa” again in October to another girl “Taylor Ella”.

He spent years caring for his elderly mother, she wanted for nothing, she insisted on staying in Lorain and he provided her the best of everything for her long distance, she passed being cared for by hospice November 8, 2020. He was unable to travel at the time due to his health and was as close to his mother as a son could be. Every mother should have a Jack as their son...he was a gift.

He had a special bond with his in-laws, Arthur and Marietta Roushkolb, who helped drive him to appointments, took care of his house and dogs while he was in Cleveland and watched over his family here in Vegas.

Jack suffered from diabetes for the last 35 years and all the co-morbid conditions associated with the disease. He was a fighter and on December 20, 2012 he received a kidney from Josette at the Cleveland Clinic. To say they were soulmates was an understatement, they were a tissue match. The kidney never gave out but his body was getting tired. On Friday, June 4th, after kissing Josette goodnight and telling her he would see her in the morning he passed in his sleep at Encompass Rehabilitation Hospital, in Henderson, Nevada.

He was grateful to his wife’s company, DaVita, of which he supported the DaVita Citizens Network. He attended all the social events and made many “teammates” his friends.

Jack was not only a patient but became friends to all his caretakers. Thank you to his special friend Yolanda Manabat RN who always visited him at the hospital and was there on his last Friday making him laugh before he passed that night. The family would like to thank Romeo Miclat MD (Amherst, Ohio) Cleveland Clinic Foundation Glikman Urological Institute ( Cleveland, Ohio) DaVita, Dijana Jefic MD, Sayed Qazi MD, Mark Barney MD, Jesse Piceno MD, Brian Lipman MD and his staff, Richard Gardner II DPM, Anwar Badar MD and his staff, Mac Mahon MD, Leo Spaccavento MD, Grace Chung DDS, St Rose Siena Hospital and staff, and Encompass Rehabilitation Hospital and staff for all their dedication and compassion to care for him with dignity and respect during all his visits and stays. He had the best of the best in medicine and was always grateful.

Jack is survived by his loving wife and soulmate of 29 years, Josette (nee Roushkolb); “daughters” Annemarie (Jermaine Nevels) and Mary Kathyrn “Katie” Sibert; son Matthew Street; in-laws Arthur and Marietta (nee Seiler) Roushkolb; “Papa” to Camaryn Olivia Sibert, Tatum Elyse Nevels, and Kendall Ashley Sibert; future “Papa” to Taylor Ella Nevels; dearest friend of Edwin Douttiel, Carl Lowe (deceased), “Robert” Bob Gieb, Kenny “Spanky” Rothkeigel and countless others; brother to Carol Fankhauser (deceased) (Larry); dear uncle to Heather (Fankhauser), Bill Nelson and family; brother-in-law to James A. Roushkolb; and his loyal furry companions Winston (his “Winnie”) and Lily.

Jack was a friend to hundreds throughout his 73 years of life. The void he left is deep but his memory will live on forever in our hearts. Jack was a man, a myth and a true legend.