Inducted: November 28, 1990
Murray Jack, of Dover Township, has not only provided leadership in farm organizations from an early age, but has been an example in entrepreneurial agriculture for farmers who are ready to look to new fields to conquer.
His elementary and secondary education in Dover and at Chatham Vocational School was just the foundation; added to it was a readiness to work hard and to try new ideas. The result is that his "starter" 100-acre farm has expanded to a 950-acre operation in Ontario, and a 1,261-acre spread in the State of Mississippi, operated by his son, Willard, and a family farm corporation, "Brookston Acres Ltd."
Mr. Jack established early the pattern he would follow in agriculture, as an organizer of the Dover-Chatham 4-H Calf Club and as its leader for two decades. He took an active part in Kent County Junior Farmers, and served as its President.
His interest in beef cattle led to membership in the Kent County Beef Improvement Association, and the Cow-Calf Committee of the Ontario Beef Improvement Association. As well as being an Aberdeen Angus progeny breeder, he was a President of the Kent County Aberdeen Angus Club and of the Ontario Red Triangle Baby Beef Association.
Mr. Jack is a Life Member of the Canadian and Ontario Agricultural Halls of Fame, and in 1984, he received the Ontario Bicentennial Certificate of Merit for his contributions to the farming industry.
In 1979, Mr. Jack lost out to a foreign buyer on the purchase of a neighbouring farm property. He then looked farther afield and eventually purchased the Silent Shade Plantation at Cruger, Mississippi; where crops unfamiliar to Kent farmers, such as rice and cotton are grown.
His community service has included many years on the Chatham Suburban High School Board, and on committees leading to establishment of the Kent County Board of Education in 1969.
Mr. Jack was the 1986 recipient of the Chatham and District Chamber of Commerce "Agriculturalist of the Year" Award.
In addition to Willard, Mr. and Mrs. Jack (the former June Parry) have a son, Dennis, and a daughter, Marianne Johnstone, both actively involved in the farming venture.