Obituary of Rev. Jack Duane Archer

Rev. Jack Duane Archer was born in Canton, Ohio on July 8, 1933 and died Nov. 9, 2009, at Mount Nittany Medical Center. He was the son of James Ray Archer and Dorthea G. Stuckey Archer Shelt. On Nov. 1, 1958, he married Leatha Arnold, of Lewistown.

Besides his wife, he is survived by the following children: Tami Archer and Edie Edmondson, of Nashville, Timothy Archer and Georgiana Cole, of Millheim, Todd and Megan Archer, of Harrisburg. Also surviving are six grandchildren, Luke, Marley, Katelyn, Katrina, Nicole and Adalynn. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Paul Ray, and a sister, Doris Jean Archer Rice.

He attended school in Richville, Ohio and graduated from Washington High School in Massillon, Ohio in 1951. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in April 1953, trained as a baker and eventually stationed on Ana Wetoc Atol in the Marshall Islands. He was honorably discharged in 1956. The same year he attended Heidelberg College, graduating with an A.B. degree in sociology from there in 1961. In the fall he began his studies at Lancaster Theological Seminar to become an ordained minister. He graduated with a B.D. Degree in 1964 was ordained in his home church, Lowell United Church of Christ.

In 1976 he received his Master of Divinity from the same seminary. He was pastor of the Nittany Valley Charge of the United Church of Christ for 34 years and served as interim pastor at St. John's UCC, Boalsburg, the Tri-Penn Charge and Trinity UCC, Hublersburg. He has supplied every UCC church in Centre and Clinton County and has served the larger church in a variety of ways: President and Vice President of the Northern Association, member of the Board of Directors of Penn Central Conference, Chairman of Nominations Committee of both the Association and Conference. Jack was the Chairman of the Howard Park and Recreations Committee, member and first treasurer of the Howard Area Lions Club, Troop Committee for Howard Boy Scout Troop 353, life long member of the Grange. He was co-owner of the Friendly Tradition, a B & B in Howard. He was a leader in the dedication of Sayer's Dam State Park and Interstate 80. He was presently an instructor for the AARP Driver Safety Program and an Annuitant Visitor for the Pension Boards of the United Church of Christ. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Jack D. Archer Memorial Fund, Annuitant Visitor Program, Pension Boards of the United Church of Christ, 475 Riverside Drive Room 1020, New York, NY 10115.

Friends will be received at the Kader-Neff Funeral Home 135 West Main St. Howard, on Wednesday Nov. 11, 2009, from 6-8 p.m. with a Lions Club memorial service at 8 p.m. Friends will also be received from 10 a.m. until service on Thursday, Nov. 12. Services will be held on Thursday Nov. 12, 2009 at 11 a.m. at the Emmanuel United Church of Christ in Jacksonville with Rev. Nancy Kuhns officiating. Burial with full military honors will be Friday Nov. 13, 2009, at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. Online Condolences may be made at www.Kader-Neff.com.