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Former Freeport mayor dies
Published November 14, 2009
FREEPORT — John “Jack” Dingle was old school, friends and family say.
If he promised to get something completed, you could take it to the bank, and all he wanted was the best for the community, whether he stood to benefit from it or not, they said.
Dingle, a former Freeport mayor and a U.S. Air Force World War II veteran, died Thursday at Plantation Health Care Center in Lake Jackson. He was 91.
“We will really miss him,” daughter Marsha Dingle McCary said.
Dingle served as First Freeport National Bank director and board chairman and as a city planning board member.
He also operated his family’s furniture business and was a member of the board that founded Brazosport Regional Health System.
“He was a very solid individual and a very caring individual,” friend and Freeport Councilman Jim Phillips said. “He will be missed greatly.”
Dingle was born Sept. 20, 1918, to Attress and Sybil Dingle and grew up in Houston, attended San Jacinto High School and Riverside Military School in Gainesville, Ga. He then entered the University of Texas before enlisting in the Air Force in 1940.
He served as a P-30 pilot in Europe from 1944 to ’45, being honorably discharged as a lieutenant colonel at 25 years old, McCary said. However, he continued serving in the Air Force from there on out as a reserve.
“He disliked war, saying it was not glamorous,” McCary said. “But it was a job to be done.”
After returning from war, Dingle went back to the University of Texas to finish his education, graduating in 1948 with a mechanical engineering degree, McCary said. He then returned to Freeport and succeeded his uncle, Gil Dingle, as operator of the family’s furniture business on Second Street in downtown Freeport, which was founded in 1901.
Longtime friend Nat Hickey said Dingle was a man of the people whose word was his bond.
“His handshake was good as the Bible,” Hickey said. “If he told you something, you could take it to the bank.”
Dingle became mayor in 1950, serving one term, family said. Dingle ran for elected office because he believed strongly in the Brazosport area, wanting to see it succeed.
He also helped start the foundations of the Freeport levee system, which years later was acclaimed for protecting the local area from Hurricane Ike’s powerful storm surge.
“He just was a businessman, but a thing he lived by was you had to have a commitment to the community and a commitment to your family,” McCary said. “He really did try and do all three of those.”
Dingle is survived by sister Laura Ewing, brother and sister-in-law Bob and Shirley Dingle, aunt Lucille Dingle and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. He also is survived by McCary, daughter and son-in-law Laura Ann and Ted Smith, four granddaughters and grandsons-in-law and five great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be at 3 p.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church of Freeport, 1402 W. Broad, with the Rev. Thomas P. Sharon officiating.
Interment will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Houston National Cemetery, 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive, with military honors, and Sharon officiating.
In lieu of flowers, family requests donations to the Brazosport College Foundation, 500 College Drive, Lake Jackson.
Nathaniel Lukefahr covers Freeport for The Facts. Contact him at 979-237-0151.
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