Obituary

John "Jack" Joseph Espelage passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 19, 2022, 5 days after his beloved wife of 61 years, Donna.
Jack was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on August 26, 1938, to parents Joseph and Ruth (Brinker) Espelage and was raised in South Fairmount. He graduated in 1956 from Roger Bacon Catholic High School. He then went on to attend the University of Cincinnati. He earned an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering (1961), an MS in Chemical Engineering from Wayne State University in Detroit (1965) and an MBA from the University of Cincinnati (1974).
On September 30th, 1961, Jack joined hands in marriage with his beautiful bride, Donna Mary Duell at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Bellevue, Kentucky. Together they welcomed two daughters Kelly and Jackie. Jack was a family-oriented man who believed that there was always new things to learn. He was passionate about all kinds of music and was a drummer in a band in his early life. His love of apples was extremely important, he planted apple trees at all of his homes and strongly believed "An apple a day, kept the doctor away."
Jack started his professional career working at Park Davis in Detroit, Michigan. He then went on to work for Monsanto, Maumee (Cincinnati), Sherwin Williams (Chicago), Ameritone Paint (Long Beach) and Duron Paint (Baltimore). He had various executive positions during his career including Vice President, President and CEO.
Jack semi-retired in 1999 at the age of 61 and returned to Union, Kentucky. He taught a business class at Northern Kentucky University. He then went on to volunteer with SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), the nation's largest network of non-profit volunteer, expert business mentors. He became the Chapter Chair for the Greater Cincinnati area and was awarded National SCORE Chapter of the Year out of 389 chapters.
For the next 22 years, he and Donna were active members of Triple Crown Country Club where he played golf and cards regularly. He cheered for the Cincinnati Reds and spent time traveling around the world golfing and visiting family.
He is preceded in death by his beloved wife, Donna; his parents, Joseph and Ruth; sister, Judith; and brother, Kenny (Pat).
Jack is survived by his daughters, Kelly (Bill) and Jackie (Sean); six grandchildren, Kristine (Steven), Ryan (Becca), Tyler (Jenn), Megan, Jake, and Joey; great-grandson, Colburn, with another great-grandchild on the way; and many extended family members and friends.
Funeral service for Jack & Donna will be held on October 21, 2022 at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, 318 Division St, Bellevue, KY 41073, with visitation at 10am and the Funeral Mass beginning at 11am.
In lieu of flowers, please consider leaving a memorial contribution in Jack's name to the American Heart Association, https://www.heart.org/.