Remeny remembered as ‘direct and honest’

By Jay Ermis

Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life” focused on banker George Bailey and the impact he had on the lives of so many people.

The same can be said of Jack Remeny.

Remeny, who died of a heart attack at age 74 Tuesday, helped raise six boys and had an influence in the lives of several other young men in Huntsville.

Remeny enjoyed a variety of interests, including woodworking and cooking.

His wife Georgia said Jack had “a lot of talents and interests. He liked to stay busy. He was a very good cook. He loved to bake.”

She said Jack had accumulated an assortment of cookbooks, including Italian books, and one of his favorite dishes to prepare was turkey meatballs with fettuccine Alfredo.

“He made pizza every Saturday from scratch,” she said.

While his interests were varied and Remeny had a penchant for disagreeing, he was most remembered Friday for being direct and honest.

Remeny, who was born in New York City, N.Y., on July 16, 1935, was buried in the Mayes Addition of Oakwood Cemetery.

He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War; worked for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for 23 years; and served on the City of Huntsville’s Planning and Zoning Commission from February 2004 to August 2007.

James Baine, chief executive officer of First State Bank, said Remeny was “a man’s man. He was formidable, direct, honest and a soldier and New Yorker when he talked to you.”

“Once you got through the nutshell, he was a loving, gentle person because if you know Georgia, that is what Georgia is,” Baine said. “The world lost a good man.”

Baine said he was 7 years old when he met Remeny’s sons — Allen, Mark, Darrin, Craig, Merle and Eric.

“Jack took an interest in me as child because my father had died when I was young,” Baine said. “Jack was a tough, formidable, direct individual. That is a good way to describe him to people.

“He served God, his country, family, the community and he loved Georgia and that is about as good as you can say about an individual.

“As a young boy, he was a good disciplinarian for me. As his sons and I have grown into leadership positions, I often found myself thinking about what Jack would think ... things he seared into my mind in my early childhood.”

Baine said Remeny held “you accountable. You never had to wonder where he stood on something.”

Baine recalled a time when he and Remeny’s sons decided to take a swim in what is now known as Town Creek during a heavy rain.

“Jack and the police picked us up behind the old Howard’s,” he said. “They drug us out of the creek on our way to the sewer plant. He took us to his garage, shut the garage door and in today’s terminology, real calm and methodical, he beat us.”

“I needed that and that direction he put me in,” Baine said. “Jack was a good leader as far as raising his boys and me, but it was not only me. John Gaines (attorney and Municipal Court judge) was another kid who spent a lot of time at their house.

“All of those guys are in leadership positions now. He was good for the community. He loves his community. He was passionate about it.

“When you disagreed with him, he would tell me 2 million Chinese and him didn’t care what I thought.

“He would always tell you exactly what he thought and I loved him for that. He disagreed with you, but he was always respectful and kind enough to sit there and listen to you. He would respect your opinion.

“He would say some things directly that he hurt people’s feelings, but it wasn’t his intent. Coming from New York he was real direct and coming out of the military.”

Former City Council member Mickey Evans said, “Jack was a good, honorable decent man who was a father, a husband, a public servant, both at the national level as a veteran of the United States Navy, a public servant working with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and certainly his service to the city in both the capacity of the Planning and Zoning Commission for several years and then as I recall he volunteered to be an election judge in local elections on numerous occasions.

“He was probably one of my very best friends. We had total trust and confidence in each other and we had a lot in common.”

Evans said neither he nor Remeny would be regarded as political activists. “I think both of us really care about our city. His six sons were raised here, I was raised here.

“We really care for the best interest of this community and that was his focus in terms of any political or city public service work. I think he was a very dedicated and active citizen who cared about his community and wanted it to be all it can and should be.”

Linda McKenzie, who is currently purchasing agent for Walker County, worked for Remeny in the late 1970s when he was the director of Research, Planning and Development at the Texas Department of Corrections.

“Jack was a very fair person,” McKenzie said. “He told you what he thought, which I appreciated because I am sort of that same kind of person. I have always had great respect for Jack and we’ve kept in touch over the years.

“He has always supported me ... just a great friend.”

McKenzie said Remeny’s honesty stands out in her mind.

“I would see him around town,” she said. “Since I have gone to work for the county, he has supported me and told me what a good job I was doing. He was a fine man.”

Dave Brinson served on the P&Z with Remeny for three years.

“We formed a real good friendship during that time and I came to admire him,” he said. “He had very good judgment, he was very objective and he was very insightful, thoughtful person.

“I think he did an excellent job for the city while he was on the Planning and Zoning Commission and we got to be good friends and maintained that friendship after that.

“Jack was a very kind and very perceptive individual. It was an honor to get to know him.”

Marjean and Rowe Creager were neighbors with the Remenys “for a long, long time.”

Marjean said Jack’s passion for life stands out the most in her mind. “I think he had a great rightness. He believed in right and wrong and he was a good Navy guy, too.”

Huntsville businessman Todd Armstrong and Remeny served on two different city boards and visited with one another.

“Jack was very involved with the community,” he said. “He was a great source of information because he always made the effort to get out and know what’s going on with the community.

“He always made a great contribution. He was a standup guy. If he believed in something, he didn’t let anything get in his way. He didn’t make any suppositions by not finding out the facts.”

Former city attorney Thomas Leeper went to school with two of Remeny’s youngest sons and through the years became acquainted with him.

“I got to know him a lot better when I went to work for the city because he was on the Planning and Zoning Commission,” he said. “He was passionate about doing what he believed was good for the community, what he believe was right.

“He was somebody who stayed very engaged in the community and what to give back to everyone around him. He was always concerned about other people. You always knew he cared deeply about others.

“He wasn’t anyone to let grass grow under his feet. He was always staying active. He was always offering me encouragement.”

Brian Miller, who became best friends with Remeny for 20 years after doing some electrical work for him, said “he was a neat guy, except when you pick up a paint brush when he is painting and he is going to tell you how to do it.

“It better be right. Other than that, he was a really neat guy. Really cared a lot for the city of Huntsville, his community and his wife. She was very important to him. So were his boys.

“He was just a great, awesome friend. Very patriotic and very committed. He was a great guy.”

City Council member Mac Woodward was nominated for The Huntsville Item’s Citizen of the Year Award a few years ago by Remeny and his wife.

“Jack was just a good friend and a neighbor,” Woodward said. “Jack was a good resource and very concerned and dedicated to the city.

“Of course, he served the city on the Planning and Zoning and did a great job. He was always a good person to talk to if you had a question or needed to discuss an issue with him.

“He was very fair and very straight forward. He would always give you his opinion and you could rely on the information he gave you. I enjoyed knowing him. He was a good friend.”