Jack Germain
1926 - 2017
USN
WWII
Jacob “Jack” Germain was born on August 6, 1926 in Lynn, Massachusetts to Mordko and Estera Baram Gechman (known and naturalized as: Morey and Esther Germain)
Following his high school graduation, Germain served in the South Pacific with the U.S. Navy during WWII as an Electronic Technician from September 14, 1944 to July 19, 1946.
He graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1950 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering; he completed graduate studies at Northwestern University, Evanston.
On February 27, 1954, he married Ruth Snellenburg in Chicago; had one child, before her death in 1973. He later married Barbara Dixon and they raised two children.
In 1950 Germain joined Motorola, Inc. as a junior engineer in Chicago. During his 38 years with Motorola, he progressed to senior management positions. In 1980, Germain was named Motorola’s first Senior Vice President of Quality and went on to oversee the company’s development of a revolutionary concept, the Six Sigma system. He retired from Motorola in December of 1988, with a legacy that included numerous patents, revolutionizing the land mobile radio, launching paging products, manufacturing and commercializing the first cellular telephone, and winning the first-ever Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
After his retirement from Motorola, Germain was a Six Sigma Quality consultant to numerous Fortune 50 companies and Purdue University for more than 10 years.
Throughout his life and during a long retirement, Jack enjoyed playing golf, travelling extensively with his wife, listening to classical music, and spending quality time with his family.
Veteran Jack Germain died on September 23, 2017, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery.
-----
Remember. Honor. Teach.
Courtesy of Signal Hill Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.