Jack's Legacy

By Elizabeth James

Few people in the Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) family are as widely known or better respected than Jack Hamm. Since 1998, Jack has been a beloved member of the CAP community, working on-and-off in the accounting department for almost eighteen years. When you think of the services CAP provides to families in need in Eastern Kentucky, you may not immediately think of the folks who work in accounting. That’s because you don’t know Jack.

Born in Flemingsburg, Ky., thirteen miles south of the Ohio River, Jack Hamm grew up in a loving home with two older brothers, a mother, and a father. “They say Flemingsburg is where the mountains meet the bluegrass,” says Jack, “and Eastern Kentucky has always been in my thoughts from the time I was a small child.”

Something else that is always on Jack’s mind is how hard the people of Eastern Kentucky work to help their families. Jack himself got his first job as a six-year-old helping the janitor clean his school. His grandfather George Washington White worked hard mining clay from the mountains until a tragic accident took his life. Jack’s mother was still a small child at the time, and George’s sister took her in and raised her.

In 1945, at the height of World War II, Jack’s father was called away to Texas to serve in the United States Army Air Force as it was named at the time. Jack still remembers how many fathers, sons, and brothers were away during the war and how many families struggled to keep food on the table. The U.S. began rationing food items we take for granted today, such as sugar, and Jack remembers carrying those ration stamps in his pocket, running down to the store to buy groceries for his mother.

Jack recalls, on a day when he was younger, he scared off another boy who was trying to pick a fight with him. Some days later, as he was walking out of the gymnasium leaving work, someone started pelting him with rocks—the older sister of the boy he scared off. “That young girl’s name was Fried,” says Jack, “and she was the daughter of a much wealthier family in town.” The same little girl who stood up to a young Mr. Hamm became his high school sweetheart a couple of years later. Now they are married and have three sons.

Upon graduating high school, Jack wanted to see new places, so he joined the U.S. Air Force, just like his father, serving from 1958 to 1962. Afterward, he attended Morehead State Univ. in Morehead, Ky., just 27 miles from his hometown of Flemingsburg. When he graduated in 1966, a large accounting firm in Atlanta offered Jack a job. He even remembers his first day of work—June 6. He and his wife lived in Atlanta for almost 30 years until they moved back home in 1995, where they built their log cabin-style house in Harrodsburg, Ky.

Jack first learned of CAP while working for Hughes & Christopher, a public accounting firm in Danville, Ky. Thomas Christopher was a tax advisor to Rev. Beiting, and the firm helped CAP get its start 50 years ago. In 1998, Tom Christopher recommended Jack to be CAP’s Chief Financial Officer, an opportunity for which Jack is forever grateful—an opportunity to give back to the place he had always called home.

He stayed in this position for almost 20 years until he retired in 2007. The first time, that is. Over the past eight years, as CAP has needed extra financial help, Jack has always been there for accounting consultation and other financial guidance. “It’s hard to get rid of me, “ Jack says, “but my health has become a factor, and I need to officially retire. I wanted to make it until I was eighty years old, but I figure I will have to quit at seventy-seven.”

When asked how he continuously gave his best effort to the job, he remembers his time spent with CAP’s founder. “I want to always be able to help CAP when I can. I worked closely with Rev. Beiting, and it affected me deeply. He was a dynamic man, and he was truly a Christian soldier.” To this day, Jack keeps a photograph of Rev. Beiting in his desk drawer, and he is always inspired to carry on the mission of CAP when he sees it each day.

He also draws strength from the other employees at CAP who work tirelessly to end poverty and extreme need in Eastern Kentucky. When Jack got his start in Georgia, he had several pro bono clients, but when he came to CAP, he noticed a special sense of sincerity and devotion to the efforts of helping the participants in Eastern Kentucky. “I think I was most impressed with CAP’s employees,” he says, “and I still am to this day because nothing has changed. They are all very dedicated to their work.”

Naturally, Jack has left his mark on CAP and, subsequently, on many of his coworkers who will miss him dearly. Greg Mink, Corporate Treasurer, says, “Jack is an excellent accountant, and I value his counsel greatly. But mostly, Jack is just a fine fellow with a beautiful soul, and I am happy to count him as a friend of mine.”

Jack was not only a friend but also a guide for Sharon Adams, Controller, who says, “Jack has been my mentor ever since he came to CAP. He has given me direction and support and has taught me so much about life.” She also remembers a time she saw Jack’s strength put to the test. “He had to have open-heart surgery, and while in surgery, he suffered an aneurysm that resulted in a stroke. His strength and courage to overcome was totally inspiring. He never gave up, and he came back to work as usual. He just gives a smile and a laugh and goes on his merry way!”

Paula Ballard in Donor Relations, an employee who has known Jack longer than most, became emotional when asked about his retirement. “There are no words to express a man like Jack that would do him justice. He is a man of faith, honor, loyalty, and intelligence, and he is the most caring person I could ever have the pleasure of knowing. He has always been dedicated to answering any question I’ve had, and if he didn’t know the answer, he would find it by the end of the day. It has been a pleasure to know this man who has touched so many lives here at CAP, including mine.”

Jack looks forward to retirement — for real this time — where he will spend more time with his wife, his three children, and three grandchildren, who all make him incredibly happy. He says he can’t wait to play more cards and work on his coin collection. “I have given my grandchildren each a collection of coins,” he says, “because I want them to have something to remember me by.” His CAP family has a suspicion, however, that they will remember him by so much more than coins. Jack has always carried out his work at CAP through the idea that, “It doesn’t matter why you help others; it doesn’t matter if you help them because of age, illness, or circumstance; we have to help each other.” And there has been no truer exemplar of that idea than Jack Hamm himself.