Jack Edward Foley Sr., 76, died March 27, 2003, at Veterans Hospital in Seattle.

He was born May 21, 1925, in Winfield, Kan. He joined the Navy in November 1943 and was discharged November 1947. He earned the China Service Medal aboard the USS Palawan, Sasebo, Kyuishu; and the USS Yakutat. He helped liberate prisoners of war in China, Japan, Pacific Islands and the Philippines.

He worked for General Motors in Kansas City and as a machinist on F-101 aircraft from 1948 to 1950. He lived in San Diego and worked for an airplane company, and in 1961, he settled around Eugene, Ore. When the plant closed in Oregon he became a millwright until he retired.

In his earlier years moving from Kansas City to Florida, he formed jazz bands, playing nightclubs until midnight and playing live on television for an hour. He played at clubs in the Southern states, using his wonderful Irish voice and that Irish sense of humor at Grange Clubs, Eagles and VFW Clubs. His big hobby was flying. He was licensed since 1947. He raised and boarded horses and dogs on his farm in Oregon.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Michael E. Foley and Lillian E. Foley.

He is survived by a daughter, Sharleen, of Port Orchard; two sons, Jack of Kansas City and Michael of Mount Vernon; a sister, Merry Jerene Lockwood of Freeland; and two nephews, Steve Lockwood of Shoreline and Johnny Strong of Tyler, Texas.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society or the American Lung Association.

No services are planned. Interment will be in Latham, Kan., next to his mother.