Jack Soen

Jack Soen, age 70 passed away Saturday, April 18, 2020. He was the dear brother of Jerry (Kathie) Soen and Michele Bragg; loving son of the late Michael and Helen Soen; dear uncle of Jamie (Andrew) Leonhard, Jason (Jody) Soen, Laura (Keith) Mc Farland, Philip (Emily) Soen, Rachel (Andy) Whitt, Timothy (Megan) Soen, John Soen, and Rebekah Soen; proud great uncle of Elisha, Noah, Isaiah, Elliana, Malakai, Selah, Anastasia, Samantha, Talia, Miles, Piper, Isaac, David and Melanie.

Jack Soen, my brother, went to be with Jesus and Dad and Mom on April 18, 2020 at about 1 AM. I was informed about 20 minutes later. While it was sad news, it was a relief. All the pain and difficulty of the last several years suddenly melted away in the joy of knowing his work on earth was finished and he was finally home.
His journey in life began on October 28, 1949. Our mother had difficulty getting pregnant, but she felt God had given him to her by promise. His start to life was a difficult one as he was born about 2 months early weighing only 4 lbs. Not having any of the healthcare for preemies that we do today, just his survival was a miracle. But, survive he did. He was slow in development in many areas but when he was 6, our mother took us to school to put him in first grade and me in kindergarten. The teachers, because we were the same size, thought my mother had confused us and put me in first grade and him in kindergarten. The discovery wasn’t made until 6 weeks later when I brought home a first-grade report card and he did not.
We grew up together and back then he was referred to as ‘retarded’. He was always a good brother though. We knew there was something different about him but we just adapted. He struggled in school and they put him in ‘special education’ which was a catchall for a lot of different disabilities.
Early on I became aware of God’s special care for Jack and that He had a purpose for him on this earth. I understood that God protects people like Jack, and I became aware of ministering angels. One time we were alone in the house in the kitchen, I heard a noise and suddenly turned around to catch my brother, having a seizure, falling into my arms.
Jack had a number of physical difficulties which included speech, eyesight, clumsiness, and grand mal seizures. He just seemed to adapt to these although at times he was frustrated. After he finished high school he began to work for my father in the ‘carpet business’. He worked in his warehouses. I would work with him in my summers of high school and college. He worked hard and was very strong in those early days. Together we often would move around rolls of carpet that weighed up to 1000 lbs. When people would buy smaller pieces of carpet and we would have to tie them on the roof of their car, we would position him by the door of the driver with that big grin on his face and he would always get us a tip.
Jack came to faith in Christ early in his life and never struggled with doubt. Although he never learned to read, he loved hearing stories from the Bible and knew many of them well. Early on my parents became involved with the work of Billy Graham and Jack became his biggest follower. We attended a number of his crusades throughout his life and he followed him until Billy’s death a few years ago. He loved to go to the Billy Graham Center in Wheaton and reminisce. When Jack would attend a prayer meeting, he was generally the first to pray. While hard to understand, he would always pray for the president, ‘all da’ missionaries, and Kaffy (my wife), and Bebbie, and da pastor.
Jack worked for my father until he died in 1988 and then physically took care of our mother until her death in 2006, living with her in Apopka, Fla. After that he came to live with us. His big smile and his life as a bit of a trickster became his mark. He found ways to serve and to help and loved doing that. In Itasca where we lived after the garbage trucks would move through the neighborhood, he would proceed to bring in garbage cans up to the garage door of many people’s homes. We never knew how far he ranged in that duty, but he was often away for several hours. He did this as well in two other neighborhoods that we lived in.
He became known at UJ (Uncle Jack) to his nieces and nephews and the grands as well. Unfortunately, he became a consummate Green Bay Packer and St. Louis fan early on and took great delight whenever either team would overcome the Bears or the Cubs. When his health began to fail, he was no longer able to serve as he wanted to and that discouraged him. He lived in Sheltered Village in Woodstock, Il. for the last 10 months of his life. The reports from there are that he still had his smile when he was feeling well and was still a bit of a trickster. Now, my dear brother has that ‘new brain’ he always wanted and I am confident that he has new ‘duties’ in heaven with his good friend Billy Graham.