Jack Arthur Taddicken, Jr.

Jack Arthur Taddicken, Jr., passed away peacefully in his sleep and into the presence of his Savior, Jesus Christ, late in the evening on May 24, 2021, at the age of 79. Jack was born in September of 1941 to Jack and Betty Taddicken in Creston, Iowa.

Several months later the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and his father was off to war in the Pacific in the spring of 1942. Jack and his mother moved to Mojave, California, to join her parents for the duration of the war.

Following the war, Jack’s family remained in California until his father enlisted in the Air Force in 1947 and they moved to Ladd Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska, where Jack enjoyed fishing and racing his sled dogs. While in Alaska, Jack sang I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover on the local radio station. Several years later Jack’s family transferred to Castle Air Force Base in California where they remained until his dad separated from the Air Force in 1953. During his early years Jack also learned to play the accordion.

The family stayed in California for a short time before moving to Boise, Idaho, where Jack attended South Jr. High School and was a Junior at Borah High School when it opened in 1958. During his Junior High and High School years, Jack wrestled, ran track, and played football. Jack was a starter on the Borah Lions varsity team and played in the historic first Boise-Borah Veteran’s Day football game at the old Bronco Stadium, a Borah victory of which he was especially proud. Jack also loved to work on cars, shoot, fish, and hunt pheasants at Cole and Overland. While in high school, Jack met Mary Martin, who, in August of 1962, became his wife of 58 years.

Upon graduation Jack worked as a mechanic and service station operator at several locations around Boise until the summer of 1971, when he took a job with the U-Haul Company of Idaho-Montana and moved with Mary and their three children to Billings, Montana. Over the next three years, they moved back and forth between Boise and Billings, during which Jack worked for U-Haul, and at an alignment shop. It was during the second stay in Billings that Jack gave his life to Jesus Christ and began following Him, thereby changing the trajectory of the family’s life for the next half-century.

In January 1974, Jack moved the family back to Boise and a fourth child was added in September. Once in Boise, Jack and his family began attending Whitney Baptist Church where he served as a deacon, Sunday school teacher, & AWANA leader. Between 1974 and 1979, Jack was the president of the U-Haul Company of Idaho & operated a Texaco Station at the corner of Overland and Broxon with his dad.

Between 1979 and 1988 Jack worked for U-haul in three different positions in both Billings and Boise. In 1988 Jack left U-Haul to work for the Boise Police Department where he worked to facilitate repairs and maintenance of the police vehicle fleet before returning to U-Haul in 1990 for several more years. Jack then took a job with the Meridian School District Bus Shop as a mechanic for several years. In 2000 Jack returned to his previous position at the Boise Police Department, from which he eventually retired from full-time work in 2007. He returned to Boise Police Department within the next year to work part-time until retiring fully after about five years. During this period Jack also served on the Board of Directors of the Boise Rescue Mission for several terms, as well as leading weekly Bible studies at the mission.

Jack was always a reliable and hard worker. Some of Jack’s favorite activities were trips to the Oregon Coast, deep-sea fishing, studying the Bible, teaching an adult Sunday school class, and shooting. One of the highlights of his life was a trip to Israel in 2006. Following retirement, Jack continued to care for his elderly father and spent a good amount of time in the southern Idaho desert shooting and picking up brass. Jack enjoyed time with grandchildren and great grandchildren, as well.

Jack was preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Betty Taddicken, & his younger brother,

Dennis Taddicken. Jack is survived by his wife Mary, their four children – Michael & Julie Taddicken, Susan Taddicken Dye, Kristine & Bill Hines, and Matthew & Andrea Taddicken, nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on June 1, 2021, at Whitney Baptist Church, 2309 Dorian Street, Boise, ID 83705.