Obituary of Jack L. Painter

Jack Lane Painter was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 20, 1926 and passed away peacefully on January 11th 2016, with his family by his side. Jack attended Barat Hall, an affiliate of the Sacred Heart School, from grade school through high school. Upon graduation, he attended Westminster College for two years before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1944 where he took part in the Navy’s Officer Training School and a rigorous flight-training program. After being Honorably Discharged in June of 1946, Jack returned to St. Louis, MO to complete his college career at St. Louis University where he graduated with a BS in Business. He embarked upon a career as a coffee trader, which took him to Brazil for several years where he became proficient in Portuguese and played on their National Basketball Team. He returned to the United States to pursue a tea importing career in New York City, becoming Executive Vice President of H.P. Thomson, Inc. Tea Importers which spanned the next 50 years until his retirement in 2005. He spearheaded the viability of the Indonesian tea supply chain in the US. As Chairman of the US Tea Association’s Traffic Committee, he also worked closely with industry representatives to transition tea shipments from Breakbulk to Containerization and promoted intermodal rail service to many inland Tea Producers; setting a new precedent in the logistics industry. Greatly respected for his expertise in the industry within the United States as well as China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Africa he ascended to Chairman of the Tea Association of the United States from 1984-1986. His creative talents lead him to also pursue several patents, which he was granted over his lifetime. He was active within his hometown of Ho-Ho-Kus as a past coach of baseball and basketball. He was an avid tennis player and golfer and fan of Duke basketball and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. He was a lifelong parishioner of St. Gabriel’s Church in Saddle River, NJ. Beloved husband of the late Martha A. Painter Jack is survived by his daughter Christie Mahle and husband David of Ho-Ho-Kus, Karen Randall and husband Thomas of Ho-Ho-Kus, Carolyn Tarantino and husband Leonard of Ho-Ho-Kus, John Painter and wife Joanne of Wyckoff, and Robert Painter and wife Jill of Ridgewood. Also, grandchildren Caitlin Coviello, Colin Fink, Lauren Fink, Thomas Randall, Alexandra Randall, Bryce, Tarantino, Brittany Tarantino, Jack Painter, Colleen Painter, Bridget Painter, Lane Painter, Natalie Painter and great grandchild Calvin. A Memorial Mass will be held on January 28, 2016 at 10 AM, St. Gabriel’s Roman Catholic Church, 88 E. Saddle River Rd., Saddle River, NJ 07458. In lieu of flowers, donations in Jack’s memory may be made to the Ho-Ho-Kus Volunteer Ambulance Corps, P.O. Box 81, Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423. Arrangements are by Vander Plaat Funeral Home, (vpfh.com), Wyckoff.