March 24, 1933 - October 19, 2020
Jack died of a massive stroke in his sleep. He was in his home, in his bed, under his favourite comforter and in his bathrobe, which is where he was most comfortable.
We celebrated his life as he would have wanted it...with his record collection surrounding him, songs of Al Jolson, Benny Goodman, Bing Crosby and so many others playing and filling the space, The Al Jolson Story and King Kong (the original from 1933) movies playing, pictures of him, his family and his friends surrounding him in the room, and the things he loved most...M&Ms, Scrabble, paper towels and so much more...including candy corn at this time of year. We sang, we danced and we laughed, as that is exactly what he has always done while celebrating his own life.
This was Jack's final performance, and it deserved a standing ovation, and so we all stood up and applauded him, for he was the greatest entertainer we all knew and loved. For the past couple of decades, Jack always read the obituaries in the paper.
We're not entirely sure why he read them or what he was looking for...if he was looking for anything at all.
Perhaps he was looking for hopeful words, perhaps it depressed him, or maybe it was something in between. Regardless, he always read them, sometimes shared them with his family and on a few occasions, he even cut out the ones that truly meant something special to him.
We write this obituary with that in mind. We write these words as if we're writing to him, as if he were reading the obituaries today and not necessarily reading about himself, but reading these words for hope and inspiration. Perhaps he would cut out this obituary and tuck it in his wallet as well.
As we write his obituary, we also write with the idea that if there is another Jack Krentzel out there, another dad, another husband, another grandpa, another friend, another brother who is out there and reads the obituaries as he did, perhaps these words bring you what you're looking for, and perhaps you would cut out these words and save them as he did.
Jack's legacy in life was to truly make people laugh, and we will all remember him with a smile!