Above: John Stafford "Jack" Rinehart. Right: Jack with his family in Costa Rica during his last few months.Below: Jack was surrounded by his family during his last days. Jack Rinehart died a noble and beautiful death on Tuesday, July 28, 2009. He was Columbia's own Jack Armstrong, All American Boy…a science whiz traveling through the world of knowledge in search of truth right up to the very end.

Jack was not a native Columbian. His wife, Mary, brought him here in 1957 after he completed a tour of duty in the Air Force and showed him the ropes. Soon he had a showplace home on Hampton Hill, started and ran two successful businesses, and became active in Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, the Explorers Club, Kiwanis, Forest Lake Club, and the Mensa Foundation. He joined the boards of the National Information Technology Association, Columbia Academy, United Way, Midlands TEC Foundation, and IT Advisory Board. Jack, the transplanted Kentucky Colonel, became a Carolina mover and shaker. And, I might add, a gentleman and scholar.

I first met Jack when he appeared at an Explorers Club meeting saying, "I hear y'all do fun things. Can I join?" As an active member of The Explorers Club, Jack attended meetings, hikes, and a few river adventures. His greatest interest, however, was the annual convention in New York City. Every March he would show up with a beautiful woman, stay at the Waldorf Astoria, eat all the strange food, and shmooze with all the famous people. He was the All American Boy playing the room.

Last April, I received an email from Jack saying he was facing an "unexpected lifestyle change" and would be out of circulation for a while. I knew he had heart problems beginning in 1991 and had a pacemaker installed in 2005, so I figured his announcement was related to that.

His heart problem never seemed to slow him down, though. After Mary, his wife of 45 years and mother of his three children, died, he took a brief hiatus then returned to his frantic lifestyle.

Jack's next email was a shocker! He recounted how he had lost his stamina at tennis and climbing hills and had a stent put in. Instead of getting better, he got worse and was told he had a "fatal, incurable and very fast degrading pulmonary fibrosis." He said he was at home on hospice, "but I'm doing fine with it!!"

Jack wrote, "I've had a really wonderful life, enjoying everyday, just as I am savoring every one even more today. I have all my children around to treat me like a king plus my extraordinary friends.

"I have been overwhelmingly blessed, trust totally in The Lord, and am ready for the Next Great Adventure. I hope you all learn something from this because you just never know what's going to happen in the next instant of time, so don't sweat the small stuff…enjoy each day to the fullest and be ready for Changes!"

That was overwhelming. And he kept sending missiles that blew my mind.

Jack's message on May 18 was

"The Old Body is getting rapidly weaker as this thing piles on its wrath, but I'm still here appreciating every minute and being treated better than any king, with no pain or discomfort. Your prayers, calls, love, and care continue to be overwhelming. I wish I could see all of my friends, but the Energy Tank is usually pretty low…

"God bless all and thanks again.. Jack"

In June, Jack's message read, "Most of us, and just about all the rest of the world, are blissfully ignorant of the totally fantastic things happening to us in the past few years. All knowledge is doubling every 18 months. Everyday we know more about not one, but all subjects, including history, who we are, what the universe is, and the awesome potential we have to change ourselves in the near future. Our whole world is changing into something totally new.

"In a few short years we will be virtually attached to computers and the Web a thousand times smarter than we. Then our own brain and bodies will be radically enhanced, giving us awesome power to change things. Living through this time has been one of the exciting things in my life but it's just beginning to come to reality, like it or not..."

When I told some of my friends about Jack's messages, most said, "Oh, he's too brave. I hope I get hit by a truck or die in my sleep." At the time, I agreed with them. But as Jack's messages continued, I changed my mind. I realized Jack had a rare opportunity and was doing it right. He was passing on the experience to us, the still living who can't imagine our death.

A few days later, Jack sent another email:

"The Top Ten Things I don't have to worry about anymore with your help:

1. Global warming - never was a worry to start with.

2. Gay priests - Let'm get married and dance naked in the streets if they like.

3. Total passage today of Obie's HC Plan and adoption unanimously.

4. An astroid hit. 5. Swine flu.

6. $23K missing in city treasury.

7. Israel- Arab total peace accord finally reached today.

8.9.10. I am sooo relieved of all these burdens."

He asked those of us to whom he sent the email to come visit and help him unload some more. But he warned that his family was guarding access to him, wanting him to rest and not get exhausted. I tried to see him, but the guards did their job. I wrote him trying to express my understanding of what he was going through and wishing him a pleasant exit. He never responded.

On July 15, Jack wrote:

"Well, maybe it's time to rain down on all you helpless souls some Great Wisdom learned from a lifetime while you have no choice but to listen...Here's one of my main ones...

"First, find your Bliss - the thing that really makes you happy and fulfilled. Your peculiar niche.

"What/Who/one thing do you really love and feel good about? Then find the Flow that takes you to it most easily with a sail, not having to row. Go with the Flow, it's there. You'll know if you have not found it, keep looking.

"Life does not have to be a battle against the Flow when you can use it for your own. Do YOUR Thing!"

At Jack's funeral at Trinity Cathedral on July 31, the minister, a tennis partner of Jack's, told the large congregation, "Jack savored life like an eager excited child…He was always exploring, always open to new things…He enjoyed life to the fullest, always smiling and laughing, always looking for the good in others. Jack was excited about dying. He was ready to find the answers to all his questions."

Jack Rinehart planned his own funeral service. He chose as one of the hymns, "Here I am, Lord." The refrain read:
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?




I have heard you calling in the night.





I will go, Lord, if you lead me.


I will hold your people in my heart.

Memorials to John "Jack" Stafford Rinehart's life may be made to Midlands Technical College Foundation, Box 2408, Columbia, SC 20202 or Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.