Jasper Peter Jacques

Article Last Updated; Friday, September 25, 2009 1:52AM

Jacques

Former Durango resident Jasper Peter Jacques died from complications of a fall in Lynchburg, Va., on Friday, June 19, 2009. He was 87.

Mr. Jacques was born to Edward R. and Fidelina T. Jacques in Bayfield on Jan. 27, 1922. He grew up in Durango and graduated from Durango High School in 1940.

He was attending Regis College in Denver when World War II began. Mr. Jacques served in the Pacific as an enlisted man in the Marines from 1942 to 1946. After earning a Bachelors degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1948, he served in the Army from 1949 to 1973 as a quartermaster officer. Mr. Jacques was the commander of the 4th Supply & Transport Battalion, 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967. He retired at Fort Lee in Virginia in August 1973 with the rank of colonel.

Among his many awards are the Legion of Merit with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with one Oak Leaf and an Army Commendation Medal.

Mr. Jacques also earned a Masters degree from the University of Alabama in 1957.

He had made annual trips to Colorado in his Airstream Trailer to fish and hike since his retirement. His family said he will be remembered for his wit, humor, heart full of love and the way he embraced life.

Mr. Jacques is survived by his wife of 27 years, Shirley Jacques, of Spring Hill, Fla.; six children; and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held in October with burial in the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Fla.