Surf Cat

Jack Fleischer loved aviation and art, and every opportunity that combined the two.

Super organized, he cataloged photos of his paintings in great detail, as well as his impressive collections of coins and military memorabilia.

He also loved teaching as an art instructor at Central High School for 34 years and, in retirement, as a tour guide to school groups visiting Kenosha’s Civil War Museum.

“Even though he was retired, he said he ‘had to teach again,’” said Jack’s son, Kurt.

Jack’s skills in aviation-themed art earned him the honor of having paintings exhibited at the Smithsonian Institute, and in 1992, he was mentioned in “Who’s Who in America.”

On Nov. 8, John R. “Jack” Fleischer, died at age 85. He is survived by his son, Kurt, and sister-in-law, Joan Fleischer. He was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara, and a daughter, Lisa.

Early life

Jack was born March 7, 1934, to Ernest and Ruth Fleischer in Milwaukee.

Jack was a drummer in high school, and shortly after graduation, he met his future wife, Barbara Seidle, a singer, when they were both members of a swing jazz band in Bayview.

They were married June 12, 1955, and in 1957, Jack was drafted into the Army. He and Barbara relocated to Fayetteville, S.C., where Jack served as a drummer for the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.

After four year’s service, Jack received his honorable discharge, and he and Barbara returned to Milwaukee. Jack attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, majoring in music and minoring in art.

After completing education classes in Milwaukee, Jack began his teaching career.

Teaching/painting career

He taught for a while in Kenosha, then accepted the post of art teacher at Central High School, where he worked for the next 34 years.

Although he taught art, he was also very well versed in history, said Kurt. “You could ask him anything about generals, battles and dates — he had an amazing memory for history.”

As he taught, Jack also pursued his own painting. His style and genres evolved over time, moving from abstract and Pop Art in the 1960s to 1970s hyper-realistic renderings of architecture and airplanes.

In 1988, he was commissioned to paint the Wilmot School as it looked in 1876 before it was destroyed by fire in 1932. In the 1990s, he was commissioned to paint the modern Central High School.

Jack worked primarily in acrylic, but also in tempura and watercolor, Kurt said. “He experimented with lots of media,” Kurt said.

In the 1980s, Jack dove into aviation art: vintage propeller planes, biplanes, planes made famous during aerial war battles and even modern jetliners. He also painted famous pilots including Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart.

According to news accounts of the day, Jack’s chapter of aviation art began in the late 1970s when he and his family were living next door to an ice cream parlor named Lucky Lindy’s in Twin Lakes. The owner commissioned him to do a painting of Charles Lindbergh’s plane, the Spirit of St. Louis.

“Before I started specializing in aircraft, I was a weekend, a Sunday painter,” he told a reporter in 1983.

He said he particularly liked the older planes for their color.

Jack worked from photos in books and magazines, but also live performances at airshows including the Experimental Aircraft Association’s fly-in at Oshkosh.

He depicted planes on the ground and in the air; with sometimes unusual perspectives including aerial overviews of farmland.

Although he was not a pilot himself, Jack was a member of the EAA.

Jack’s work was exhibited at airports including O’Hare, Truax Field, Madison and Waukegan.

“Plane owners would commission him to do their planes, sometimes with their children,” Kurt said.

In 1984, one of Jack’s paintings, “Gee Bee at Springfield,” a racing plane flown by Gen. Jimmy Doolittle in 1932, was selected by the Smithsonian Institute for inclusion in its exhibit titled “The Golden Age of Flight.”

A second painting, a 1930 British airliner manufactured by de Havilland called “Dragon Rapide,” was chosen for the institute’s permanent collection.

Other interests

Music was a constant in Jack’s life as well. “He had a massive CD collection,” Kurt said. Jack and Barbara had a band and performed at weddings. Jack also belonged to the Racine Kilties Drum and Bugle Corps.

Another strong interest of Jack’s was collecting military memorabilia. According to a 1998 Kenosha News article, Jack became fascinated by military history when he was a boy after receiving a Navy insignia and a 1943 Bluejacket manual from his brother who was a sailor.

Among the carefully cataloged and displayed artifacts in his Twin Lakes home were uniforms and insignia from all branches, a spiked leather German helmet and sheet music of popular WWII tunes.

He also included his family in his hobby, said Kurt. “On family vacations, we always had to go to a fort, a battleship or an aircraft carrier.”

After Jack retired from teaching he devoted even more time to his military and coin collections, and remained active with the Westosha Lions Club, which he had joined in 1970.

When the Kenosha Civil War Museum opened in 2008, Jack donated his time and some of the Civil War artifacts from his collection to the museum.

“Jack was quite involved for at least 15 years. He was one of our key volunteers,” said Civil War Museum Director Dan Joyce. “He gave tours and worked with us in exhibits area in early days.”

Jack also donated some of his aviation paintings to the museum, of both civilian and military planes, added Joyce.

After Barbara died in 2006, Jack did not paint much, but continued to sketch and enjoy his coin collecting, Kurt said.

He also remained active with the Lions club. “He just liked to do good,” Kurt said.

“He was a great human being,” Joyce said. “Very kind, thoughtful and intelligent.”