Posted by Terry Powers on November 13, 2022:

OBITUARY Col. (Retired) John J. Fatum, known as Jack by his family and friends, passed away peacefully on November 25, 2020. A funeral service will be held at St. Anne Catholic Church on Monday, December 14th. A private burial will be held at Fort Mitchell National Cemetery on December 14th. Born in Lima, Ohio, Jack was the son of the late Oscar Fatum, M.D. and Zita Goodrow Fatum, R.N. He graduated in 1945 from Campion High School, a Jesuit boarding school in Wisconsin, and graduated in 1949 from the United States Military Academy. He later earned a Master's Degree in International Relations from the University of Notre Dame, an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a Master of Education in Secondary Education from Columbus State University. Jack proudly served for thirty years in the infantry. He was a Ranger and Airborne certified. During his career, he fought in the Korean War, served as a Green Beret in Vietnam, and commanded a battalion on the DMZ on a second tour to Korea. While assigned to the Pentagon, he worked in the area of counter-insurgency. He served as the Professor of Military Science at St. Peter's College in NJ, and he completed the Distance Education Program at the US Army War College. He served as the Post Commander at Fort Monmouth in NJ. In 1982, Jack and Mary Ernestine ("Tina") Fatum, his wife of 49 years and a Columbus native, returned to Columbus. Tina passed away in 2002. Jack married Shirley Pekor Fatum in 2004, and they moved to Spring Harbor in 2005 as founding members. Shirley passed away in 2019. For four decades, Jack was an active member of St. Anne Catholic Church. He was a member of the Lion's Club of Columbus for over thirty years where he also served as its secretary. In his retirement from the military, he taught math in public and private high schools in Columbus. He believed in volunteering and generously gave of his time and talents in many ways including serving as a math tutor to high school students, President of the Georgia Alliance for the Mentally Ill and Chairman of the Fort Monmouth Boys Scout Troop. His faith and commitment to service were inseparable. Jack believed in and lived the values of West Point: Duty, Honor and Country. He is remembered by his family and friends for being a life-long learner with an inquiring mind. He engaged the world with a sense of adventure, gratitude, humility and hope. He was preceded in death by his sister, Mary Ann Bebenek, and brother, Paul J. Fatum, M.D. He is survived by his beloved sons, John J. Fatum, Jr. of Asbury Park NJ; David (Susan) Fatum of Bradford, MA; and Stephen (Maria) Fatum of Wilmette, IL; along with grandsons, John Fatum of Los Angeles, CA and Michael Fatum of Portland, OR, and nieces, Teresa Fatum, Monica Edison, and Mary Ann Collins of Grand Rapids, MI, Kay Bebenek of Cleveland, OH, and Ann Hurt of Long Island, NY; nephews, Paul Bebenek of Birmingham, AL, and Mark Fatum of Grand Rapids, MI; and other relatives of Tina and Shirley who reside in Georgia. www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/columbus-ga/john-fatum-9926630

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