Jack Woodrow Dressel, of Savannah, Ga., died peacefully under the care of Hospice of Savannah on December 6th, 2009. He was 89 years old. A native Savannahian, Jack was born in 1920 at the old St. Joseph’s Hospital on Whitfield Square, just two blocks from his Liberty Street home. He continued to live most of his life in the same neighborhood on Liberty Street. He graduated from the old Savannah High School on Washington Avenue and was a member of the class of 1944 at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, where he was a member of the Citadel boxing team. He converted to the Catholic faith as a young man and was a communicant of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist for most of his life. In 1981, Jack retired from Union Camp Paper Corporation (International Paper) after 36 years as a faithful employee. Jack was fond of collecting guns, Citadel memorabilia and various other items that struck his fancy. He loved talking about the “”old days”” growing up in downtown Savannah, long before the area was known as the Historic District. He related entertaining stories of playing in Colonial Cemetery, collecting old tires and wooden boxes to build the New Year’s Eve bonfires in the squares and recalled all the young friends whose harmless, but intense antics and rivalries dubbed them as belonging to various “”gangs””+ the Washington Square Gang, the Greene Square Gang, the Troup Square Gang, etc. Jack was preceded in death by his childhood sweetheart and beloved wife of 43 years, Peg Flanagan Dressel, who also lived her entire life on Liberty Street, his parents Philip Arndt Dressel and Jane Pirkle Dressel, and a half brother Arthur Dressel. His is survived by a daughter Loretto Dressel Lominack and her husband, Jerry, of Savannah; a son John Philip Dressel of Savannah; grandchildren, Shannon McNally Lominack and Thomas Brendan Lominack of Savannah, Cristin Dressel Jernigan and her husband, Jay, of Atlanta, Teresa Kathleen Dressel, John Philip Dressel, Jr., and Adam Flanagan Dressel, all of Savannah. He is also survived by his sister Mary Dressel Sullivan and a niece, Carol Sullivan Bontempo, both of Savannah. Visitation will be held on December 8th from 6 to 8 PM at the family home at 309 East Liberty Street with a Rosary at 7 PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held December 9th at 10 AM at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist with interment to follow at the Catholic Cemetery on Wheaton Street. Pallbearers will be Brendan Lominack, Philip Dressel, Flanagan Dressel, Edward Fogarty, Stuart Murray, Michael J. Winters and honorary pallbearer, William V. Bennett. In lieu of flowers, the family requests remembrances sent to St. Vincent’s Academy or the endowment fund for the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Tags: 1944
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