John Kenneth “Jack” Gouze Sr., 83, passed on to be with our Lord on Friday, June 1, 2012. At his passing Jack was surrounded by family and friends, including his wife Carolyn of 14 years, daughters Kathryn Nichols and Susan Jones, stepson James Scott; and friends Don McInelly and George Perkins. Services were held June 9 at Valley View Southern Baptist Church in Snowflake, with burial and an honor guard ceremony at the R.V. “Mike” Ramsay Memorial Cemetery in Snowflake. Jack was born in Ely, Minn., to Evelyn (Nankervis) Gouze and John Leopold Gouze. Jack has an older brother, James Gouze, and a younger brother, Richard Gouze, who passed on in 2005. At the age of 7, Jack’s family moved from Ely to Compton, Calif., where he attended elementary school, junior high school and high school. Jack joined the United States Navy in October 1945 and after completing boot camp in San Diego, Calif., he served almost four years on the USS William Mitchell AP 114. He was discharged in June 1949. He married Earlene Hyatt (also of Compton) on May 4, 1951. While living in Southern California they had three children, Kathryn, Susan and John Jr. Jack held various jobs from truck driving to auto parts store manager to manufacturing and eventually end-ing his career as a court security officer in Holbrook. Jack and Earlene, who were married 46 years, lived in California spanning from Southern California (Compton, Lakewood and West Covina) to Northern California, settling in the Sebastopol area in 1964. In 1970, they moved to Santa Rosa, where their youngest child completed high school. One day they decided to sell most everything they owned and take to the road in their truck and fifth wheel. Eventually they landed in Tucson, where they lived for a couple of years near their eldest daughter. Later, in the early 1990s, they moved to Snowflake and lived at Putter’s Paradise (Earlene’s brother and wife resided there, too), where they man-aged the park for approximately five years. They quickly made many new friends. Jack’s wife Earlene passed away in April 1997. After Earlene’s passing, Jack dated Carolyn (Held) Scott of Taylor. Jack and Carolyn were married on Feb. 28, 1998. That was the beautiful beginning of Jack’s and Carolyn’s life together. Jack and his childhood friend from first grade, Jack Wiley, were best friends for a lifetime, both growing up in Compton. As kids they were close like brothers. As teens they spent time together tinkering on the old Model T they purchased for $47. Jack was very proud of his service time in the Navy. He shared many interesting stories of his experiences in the military to whoever seemed interested in listening. In his later years, he was seldom ever seen without his World War II Veteran cap tipped slightly to the right side of his head. As a young adult, and in his limited spare time, Jack’s hobby was being under the hood of his cars. His cars were always in great repair. He was also known as the backyard barbeque king. He was always eager to start up the grill, and enjoy the company of his family and friends. Jack and Earlene spent many weekends entertaining at Lake Pillsbury, Calif. There they had set up a permanent campground designed for long hours of activities, including boating fun, food and storytelling by the fire pit with their family and friends. Life was never dull! Jack and Earlene played golf, traveled, and truly enjoyed being with their children and grandchildren. When Jack began his new life with Carolyn, together they took pleasure in golfing at the Snowflake Golf Course, going to church, playing endless games of Texas Gin, working in the yard and entertaining their fami-lies. They enjoyed their together time spent on road trips to California, Washington, Wyoming and Colorado to visit family and friends. Jack and Carolyn traveled to Ely, the Gouze boys’ birthplace, with Jack’s brothers and sister-in-laws to see and reminisce about their childhood times. Jack and Carolyn vacationed in Hawaii a few years ago with Carolyn’s sister, nephews and nieces. The two recently took a road trip to California to cele-brate with family his brother Jim’s 85th birthday. There are so many more great memories about Jack, but too many to share in this small space. Jack was a great husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother and friend. He is and will be greatly missed by all who loved him! Survivors include his wife, Carolyn Gouze of Snowflake; his brother, Jim Gouze (Lorraine) of Jackson, Calif.; two daughters, Kathryn Nichols of Tucson and Susan Jones of East Wenatchee, Wash.; his son, John Gouze Jr. (Donna) of East Wenatchee; his stepson, James Scott of Taylor; two stepdaughters Lisa Purcella of Buffalo, Wyo., and Kathy (Sean) Ballard of Phoenix; his grandchildren, Glen Jones Jr., Lisa (Brian) Traum, Kristina (Gregg) Rask, Tina (Travis) Hofstetter, Tino (Cheyenne) Fernandez, Tyler Nichols, Damian, Quentin, Kalvin Scott, Laken and Ashlee Purcella, and Amanda Scott; and great-grandchildren, Brianna and Kailey Hofstetter, Jaden Traum, Croydon and Leverett Rask, Hayley Tucker, and Delaney and Tierney Johnson. He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Evelyn Gouze; his first wife, Earlene Gouze; and his brother, Richard Gouze. Silver Creek Mortuary of Taylor was in charge of the arrangements.