Jack Denney Ammons, 84, of Greenville, Texas, passed away on December 6, 2023, with his beloved wife Jane Anne and daughters Amy and Beth by his side. Jack was born in Bryan, Texas, in 1939 and was the only child of William Harold and Eleanor Christine Denney Ammons.
Harold and Christine owned and operated a grocery store in the 1940's and 50's on Lee and later Wesley streets in Greenville, Jack's hometown. In 1957, Jack won the High School Golden Gloves Featherweight Division before graduating from Greenville High School the same year. He then attended Texas Tech University and later earned his Master's and Doctorate degrees in Education from East Texas State University.
Jack's professional passion was supporting the state's school children with educational opportunities, and he was a transformative, performance-driven superintendent of multiple school districts across the state. At Northwest ISD, he developed an Academic Decathlon team, which went on to win the state competition. At Brownsville ISD, Jack helped the district regain Texas Education Agency (TEA) accreditation and implement one of the state's largest year-round school programs addressing the unique needs of the district's students. These accomplishments earned Jack and his Brownsville staff the Governor's Educational Excellence Award. The TEA also recognized Jack for a comprehensive reading program he developed at Huntsville ISD. While Jack's formal training emphasized curricula, in later years, he began to specialize in corrective financing and operations. This led to a position with the TEA as a conservator. In that role, Jack improved several troubled school districts and charter schools.
Jack was a member of the Greenville Lions Club and long-time member of the Rotary Club of Greenville. He also served on the boards of Greenville I.S.D. and the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum.
Jack escaped the pressures of his professional assignments by ranching and collecting impressive automobiles. He took great pride in breaking his own horses and raising Brangus cattle at his farm on Highway 69 that was in his family for generations. His trucks and sports cars won more than 150 awards in regional car shows.
Jack and Jane Anne met in Roanoke, where she was a kindergarten teacher. They were happily married just short of 35 years, sharing decades of love and stories. Jack often spoke of how proud he was of his daughters, Amy and Beth, and he was a doting and entertaining grandfather to his five granddaughters. He frequently attended the girls' theater performances, competitions, and sporting events and was known to show up with a gift of a golf cart or drive one of his prized cars or trucks in their local parades.
Jack's dry wit amused his family, friends, and colleagues. With a twinkle in his eye, he regaled us all with entertaining stories and recaps of his adventures. We will always remember him answering the phone with ''What's going on?'' and saying, ''Come when you can.''
Jack was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife Jane Anne; daughters Amy Christine Rasmussen and her husband Blake of Houston, and Beth Ammons Chapman and her husband Ron of Dallas; and granddaughters Hadley Christine Rasmussen (Dallas), Meredith Brooke Rasmussen (Los Angeles), Bridget Anne Rasmussen (Dallas), Eleanor Anne Chapman (New York), and Abigail Kathleen Chapman (Boston).
Jack's graveside service will take place Friday, December 15, 2023, at 11:00 AM at Coker-Mathews Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will be in Memoryland Memorial Park.
Donations can be made in Jack's name to two entities important to him: (1) MD Anderson Cancer Center, in honor of the care Jack's mother received before her passing, at P.O. Box 4486, Houston, TX 77210-4486 or https://gifts.mdanderson.org/; or (2) Arms of Hope's Boles Campus at https://armsofhope.org/donate/.
Condolences(3)
Rosie Rosebure
Royse City, TX Thursday, December 14, 2023 Jack and I spent a lot of time together discussing education. He was a giant at reforming and accreditation. Extremely intelligent, hard working and quick to the point. He loved kids and educators.We went to many board meetings. We shared presenting at board trainings. He explanation of the spriling technique was unmatched. I observed him working with board members and educators. There was none better than Jack.
He was my friend.
Earnie Phelps
Farmersville, TX Wednesday, December 13, 2023 I am so sorry to hear about Dr. Ammons. I first met Jack in 2010 from a mutual friend, Dr. Gerald "Rosie" Rosebure. From then on, he became a mentor to me and a great friend. My kids and I spent many hours out on his farm fishing, hunting, and looking at his car collection. Jack was simply the best. A true pioneer and servant leader in educating our youth. You will be greatly missed.Ron Ablowich
Durham, NH Wednesday, December 13, 2023 So sorry to hear about your loss. He will be missed by his Greenville High School Class of 1957.