Jack Lewis Edward Mathewson was born in Tarboro, N.C. on February 8, 1944; the second of seven children, six boys and one girl. His father, Frank Albert Mathewson, was a school teacher and phone company worker; his mother Ella Mary Lewis Mathewson worked as a school teacher.

Jack had an insatiable intellectual curiosity and a desire to understand "how things work" that would last a lifetime. As a young boy, he disassembled his father's treasured transistor radio to see how it worked and put it back together again. It still worked! He loved collecting information and books on astronomy, physics, and math. He also loved building things and could fix anything in the house that stopped working. He would get upset if anyone mentioned calling a repairman and would say, "that repairman isn't going to do a thing but charge you a lot of money for something I could have fixed myself."

Jack completed his elementary and high school education in Tarboro at the W.A. Pattillo High School, where he also played trumpet in the band. Upon finishing high school in 1962, he enrolled at North Carolina A&T State University where he studied electrical engineering. During that time, he joined fellow students to protest on-going segregation at the Centre Movie Theater in downtown Greensboro. They were arrested and spent nearly three weeks in a Guilford County jail. He graduated in 1977 with a B.S. Degree in electrical engineering.

Jack met Cora Bernice Harris in the first grade.  They were married on August 27, 1966 at the Westover Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, New York and together they had four wonderful children, Jacquette "Jackie" Michelle; Jessica Denise (Lorenzo); Jason Edward (Shalanda); and Joyce Lynn. After leaving New York, he returned to Greensboro, N.C.  and joined Bass Chapel United Methodist Church, under the leadership of Reverend Paul Milton.

During his career, Jack worked for several leading information technology firms, including, AT&T, Hewlett-Packard, and Digital Equipment Corporation. After his retirement, he dedicated himself to enriching the lives of children by teaching computer literacy skills to students at Southeast Middle School.

Recently, Jack wanted to help people in his hometown of Tarboro, N.C. He helped to develop the Tarboro Community Development Corporation, where he served as Vice President. He also served on the board of the W.A. Pattillo Alumni Association.

Jack died on July 24 and was surrounded by loved ones. He will be remembered as an excellent listener, a fighter as well as a beloved husband, brother, father, grandfather and uncle. He was 79.

He leaves to cherish his memories, his wife, Cora, his children, his siblings - sister Mary Elizabeth Davis (Lemuel); Alfred Dennis (Pamelya Herndon); and John Turner (Lesli Foster); his grandson Julian Edward, sister-in-law Dianne Mathewson, seven nieces, three nephews, five grandnieces and three grandnephews. In lieu of flowers please consider making a contribution to the St. Matthews United Methodist Church Food Pantry.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 29 in St. Matthews UMC, 600 E. Florida Street, Greensboro; visitation with the family begins at 10:00 am followed by the service at 10:30 am.