Jack B. Hewitt

Jack Hewitt, 83, of Bucyrus, passed peacefully on Saturday, December 3, 2022 at Altercare of Bucyrus.

He was born April 12, 1939 in Bucyrus to the late Earl B and Virginia E. (Frye) Hewitt. Jack was an athletically gifted individual who began playing fastpitch softball at the age of 15. He was a self-taught pitcher who played in both a church and industrial league. Jack was a 1957 graduate of Bucyrus High School, where he was a four-sport athlete playing football, baseball, basketball and track. He was the recipient of the Michael Award for basketball during his senior year.

On November 8, 1959, he married his high school sweetheart, Kay E. Judd and shortly thereafter was drafted into the Army, where he spent much of his service time at Fort Rucker Alabama. He served as a Military Police Officer and also continued excelling in fastpitch. One of his personal playing highlights was being named MVP of the 6th Army Softball Tournament in 1962.

Following his service time, Jack and Kay returned to Bucyrus. They started a family and a few years later, moved to Zephyrhills, Florida where he went on to complete his bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of South Florida. After becoming homesick, the family returned to Bucyrus in 1980 and Jack found work with the Ohio Correctional System, working for a short time in Mansfield and retired from Marion Correctional as a Substance Abuse Counselor following 33 years of helping to positively change the lives of many individuals.

Jack will always be remembered for his commitment and knowledge shared while working with the young ladies in the Bucyrus Redmen Softball program and felt privileged to have been the head coach of their 1990 State Championship team. Much of his 30 years was spent behind the scenes, working with the Redmen pitchers and in 2019, the school and community gave back to Jack, by naming their field, Jack Hewitt Field and proclaimed May 18, 2019 to be Jack Hewitt Day in Bucyrus.

Jack was a member of Bucyrus United Methodist Church and the American Legion 181. He was proud to have attended the Honor Flight to Washington DC and over the years he enjoyed many conversations with friends at Ehrhart’s Drive-Thru, Sabback’s and in most recent years, The Pelican Coffee House, where he worked crosswords and visited with anyone who stopped to talk. He and Kay enjoyed many country rides with no particular destination, and they were fortunate to take in an occasional Broadway Performance from time to time.

In addition to Kay, his wife of 63 years, Jack is survived by his son, Mitch (Laurie) Hewitt; grandson, Jakob Hewitt; step grandchildren, Jacob Boehm, Jonathan Boehm and Morgan (Gage) Sheehan; sisters-in-law, Janet (Bob) Dilley of Melbourne, Florida and Melinda (Ron) Butler of Titusville, Florida; many nieces and nephews; a few close friends and many who he has impacted over the years.

Jack was preceded in death by his parents; stepmom, Dolores R. Hewitt; brother, Jim Hewitt; daughter-in-law, Jean (Teynor) Hewitt and a sister-in-law, Joanne Sharp.

Kay and family will receive friends from 4 – 7 pm Friday, December 9 at Wise Funeral Service. Jack will be privately laid to rest in Oakwood Cemetery with Military Rites provided by the Army Honor Guard and the Bucyrus Veterans Military Funeral Detail.

If desired, donations can be made payable to either the Bucyrus Athletic Boosters (to support of the softball program) or to the Bucyrus UMC, These gifts will be accepted through the funeral home and photos, memories and expressions of sympathy are encouraged to be shared on his tribute wall.