Jackson Milton Vaughan

Jackson (Jack) Milton Vaughan of Smith Mountain Lake, VA, passed away on February 16, 2012. He was born on March 8, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Kansas, the second son of Thomas Jefferson Vaughan and Rose Marie Respet Vaughan. He graduated from Powell Valley High School in Tennessee and attended Tulsa University in Oklahoma but he was really a self-made man. The depth and breadth of his experience was astounding and sometimes amusing. His wife, Carol, called a halt to story telling from time to time lest his grandchildren get mischievous ideas. He was a successful salesman, businessman, inventor (he held a US patent for a method that minimizes pollution from coal dust) and racecar driver (he kept his NASCAR membership card from the mid-50s in his wallet as a keepsake). He oversaw construction of his retirement home including an efficient water purification system, both of his own design. He also followed the stock market with interest and spent many hours restoring early model Ford Mustangs. As a lifelong student of the American Civil War, he became an active member of the local Civil War Roundtable and worked to save America’s battlefields through the Civil War Preservation Trust. We all had something to learn from him. He started a successful career in the mining chemical industry working for Dowell, a division of the Dow Chemical Company in Oklahoma. With Dowell, he moved from Oklahoma to Kentucky and then to West Virginia where he founded the Chemical Components Company and MineTeK Inc. in Beckley. Smith Mountain Lake is the place Jack and Carol finally called home. He started bringing his family to the lake for weekend getaways starting July 1968. Jack worked diligently to provide a safe, comfortable place for the family to gather. Time passed and his children brought their children and then their grandchildren. Everything about the lake was special. When he eventually sold MineTeK, Inc., he was able to build his dream home and retire on the lake in 1998. Actually, he built his dream house in front of his dream garage. If he was not on his Kubota tractor, he was in “the shop” working on a project of one type or another. It seemed as if he could build or repair anything with the tools and machine parts he collected over the years. After a long day in the shop he would dive into the lake to cool off, drip dry and relax with a gin and tonic and a cigar. Jack suffered from debilitating illness for the last year or two of his life. But he faced death as he had faced life, on his own terms. Family gathered for support and nursed him lovingly in his final days. He died in his home with his wife by his side overlooking his beloved lake. His parents, his brother Thomas Jefferson “TJ” Vaughan and his sister, Theresa Vaughan Byorick, preceded him in death. Left to cherish his memory is his wife of 55 years Carol Jean Mihoover Vaughan, and his three children: Brian Douglas "Doug" Vaughan of Silverthorne, CO, Debra Ann Vaughan Miller (husband David) of Charlotte, NC and Teresa "Tess" Vaughan Barnes (husband David) of Raleigh, NC. He had one granddaughter, Kristine McGraw Pariyadath (husband Manoj) of Winston-Salem, NC and four grandsons: Jeremy Delane McGraw of Port St. Lucie, FL, Andrew McKinley Barnes of Atlanta, GA, Jackson Alan Barnes of Raleigh and Daniel Vaughan Miller of Charlotte. He was also able to enjoy two great-grandchildren, Asha Rose Pariyadath and Samuel Benjamin Pariyadath. Also surviving are his brother-in-law Ed Byorick (wife Carol), his niece Ann and nephews Eddy and Tom. Family friends have been generous and supportive. Karen Tosh, RN with Franklin County Hospice deserves special mention for her caring dedication. A funeral mass will be celebrated by Fr. Mark White on Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 1100, at Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Rocky Mount, VA, with burial following at Resurrection Cemetery, in Moneta, VA. The family will receive visitors one hour prior to the mass, at Francis of Assisi church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Civil War Preservation Trust 1331 H St. NW, Suite 1001, Washington, DC 20005, Franklin County Hospice at 180 Floyd Ave., Rocky Mount, VA 24151 or Francis of Assisi Catholic Church 15 Glennwood Dr., Rocky Mount, VA 24151. The family is being assisted by Lynch Conner-Bowman Funeral Home, 140 Floyd Avenue, Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151…www.lynchconnerbowman.com…(540)483-5533