John M. Jordan Jr., 84, founder and director of Towering Pines Camp for boys and Camp Woodland for girls in Wisconsin, died Tuesday, Nov 30, in Evanston Hospital of complications from a stroke, his family said.
For nearly 65 years, Mr. Jordan served as a summertime father figure to thousands of young people from Wisconsin and Illinois who attended the two camps run by the Jordan family.
After learning of Mr. Jordan’s death, dozens of former campers and counselors recalled how he had shaped their lives.
“In so many ways Mr. Jordan helped me learn about life and … in turn molded me into the person I am today,” said former camper Matthew Cratty.
Another Towering Pines alumnus, Ricardo Sanroman, said, “John was a remarkable man whose wisdom and philosophy constructed solid foundations on the set of values with which I guide my life.”
After starting the camp with his father in 1945, Mr. Jordan was inspired to become an educator. In 1951, he started teaching fifth grade at The Joseph Sears School in Kenilworth, retiring in 1981.
His son, Jeff, who currently runs Towering Pines camp with his wife, Jenny, said his father’s greatest trait was patience.
“So much work went into building the camp,” said his son, a science teacher at Glenbrook North High School. “But nothing fazed him. He was always so calm about everything.”
John Jordan was born in Chicago on Sept. 16, 1926, to John M. Jordan, a former school superintendent in Cicero, and Katie Allison, a homemaker.
In 1945, Mr. Jordan and his father drove to Wisconsin, searching for a resort to buy. When they found the Pines, they were impressed with the size of the property and the modest $20,000 price. The elder Jordan bought the property, and instead of a resort, he decided to start a camp for boys.
In a memoir about the purchase, Mr. Jordan described the early Pines facilities as primitive, run-down and in need of major improvements.
“There was only a DC generator to run a water pump and provide lights. Two toilets in the lodge and one in Cabin 1 … were the only indoor plumbing. Cooking was on a wood stove,” Mr. Jordan wrote.
In preparation for their first campers arriving in summer 1946, Mr. Jordan, then 20, went to the Pines in April and started the difficult task of building a camp from scratch. With World War II’s end, surplus beds, tents and sleeping beds were readily available.
But, the Jordans soon realized they lacked several key camp features. The waterfront had no pier or lifeguard tower, and the property also lacked an athletic field, pasture, and tennis courts. Also, the Jordan family knew nothing about running a camp.
After the first tough summer, Mr. Jordan and his family returned in 1947 and built a recreation hall and a wash house at the senior end of camp. They continued for the next 60 years building or improving something each year.
His experience with children at the camp motivated Mr. Jordan to become a full-time teacher. He enrolled at George Williams College, where he received a bachelor’s degree, and later attended Northwestern University and earned a master’s degree in 1952.
In 1954, Mr. Jordan was hospitalized with polio, which led to his use of a golf cart in later years to get around the camp. But the illness never diminished his energy or dedication to the camp.
He married Ann Giese in 1955. They eventually settled in Northfield and raised three children.
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In the late 1960s the Jordan family bought Camp Woodland for girls, about two miles from Towering Pines in northern Wisconsin.
Mr. Jordan was one of the original members of the Midwest Association of Independent Camps, serving as its president for many years. He was also a longtime member of the American Camp Association.
In addition to his wife and son, he is survived by daughters JoAnne Trimpe and Susan Jordan; a brother, William; and eight grandchildren.
Services have been held.