SierraScape December 2002 - January 2003
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submitted by Suzanne Smith

(Excerpt from an interview with Jack in Missouri Life Magazine): Knock on Jack Longacre's door. He'll be glad to take a break from Highpointers Club business. He'll probably invite you into his home atop an Ozark mountain. He has a few stories for you. "Now about this Highpointers Club: It's a group of almost 1500 folks from across the nation who travel around the country and climb or stroll to the highest point in each state." Back before he started the club 16 years ago, Jack became the seventh person who had done all 50 states when he climbed Gannett Peak in August 1985. At age 38, he picked up mountaineering skills while working in Seattle. His first climb was Mt. Hood in Oregon. Then he went on to conquer Mt. Rainier which turned him into a climber. Jack soon discovered that mountains held a captivating power over him that outweighed his need for companionship.

Seven years ago, Jack's new home near Missouri's high point on Taum Sauk Mountain was just a dream. Now, above his bed hangs a dream catcher, dangling with Jack's own captured dreams in stones and broken arrowheads from all over the West. Then Jack's doctor told him to slow down because of a heart condition. Then other medical problems arose but Jack still dreamed of a Highpointer Museum on his land on Russell Mountain. He is at peace in his Ozarks home. "This is where I want to die because I love the Ozarks."

Jack left us for the 'greatest highpoint in the sky' on Tuesday, October 15, 2002 but his spirit will live on in all of us who knew him and who love the outdoors as he did.