Obituary for John "Jack" L Hordemann
John Leander "Jack" Hordenann (Age 87) passed away in Spokane on September 5, 2018. He was born on February 24, 1931 in Moscow, ID to Ernest and Lexie Hordemann, and spent his early childhood and first two school years on the family farm near Genessee, ID. In 1939 he moved to Spokane with his parents and two younger brothers. During his early years in Spokane the family owned a series of grocery stores, and as a consequence, moved several times, and Jack attended Lincoln, Whitman, Our Lady of Lourdes, and St. Joseph grade schools. He attended Gonzaga and North Central High Schools, graduating from North Central in 1949. In 1951, as a member of the Washington Air National Guard, Jack was sent to Alaska when the Guard was activated as a result of the Korean War and was honorably discharged. In 1954 he married his first wife, Nancy Allen, and by 1962 their four children had been born. In 1968 Jack married his second wife, Phyllis Scott, and with her he successfully operated a motorcycle dealership, the Two Cycle Shop. After several years, Jack and Phyllis sold the dealership, purchased acreage near Cheney where they built a home and large shop, and went into semi-retirement and lived there for the rest of their lives. Jack was fascinated by anything with wheels and an engine. Among the first of local auto racers, he was there in 1950, clocking the fastest speed, on the day racing began at the Deer Park Drag Strip. A year or two later he took up stock car racing, building a series of cars and racing them at all the Spokane area tracks until 1956. That year he left stock cars to return to drag racing, this time with his brothers. As chassis builder, engine builder, and with his brother Jim driving, he raced a series of cars at Deer Park and throughout the Northwest, ending in 1964 with a dragster that attained a speed of 193 mph. During this time he helped pioneer the use of nitrous oxide injection, now used widely in auto and boat racing. Once out of racing, Jack continued to indulge his fondness for all things with engines, expanding it to include motorcycles, tractors, road graders, and most of all, airplanes. He and Phyllis took up flying and he built two experimental aircraft. Jack was a great story teller and in 2008, he had authored three stories that were published in Nostalgia Magazine. Jack was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Phyllis, his brother Jim, and his step-son Warren Scott. Survivors include his first wife Nancy Allen, brother Gary (Barbara), son Mark (Garnet), daughters Shawn Hordemann (Patsy), Paula Melton (Dail), and Clair Pimley (Richard), step-daughters Gloria DeForest (Roy), Diane Bignall (Bryce), and nine grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions in memory of Jack be made to a school he supported, Trinity Catholic School (www.trinityspokane.org). To leave condolences or a memory please contact clairpimley1@hotmail.com or Quinsmom2010@hotmail.com. A Memorial Service with a buffet will be heldon Frieday, September 21st at 5:00 p.m. at the Longhorn Barbecue restaurant, 7611 W. Sunset Highway.
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