Trenton Mayor Steven Rzeppa honors World War II veteran Jack Sharkey during the June 16 City Council meeting by proclaiming July 5, 2025, his 100th birthday, as “Jack Sharkey Day” in Trenton.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
TRENTON – Soon-to-be centenarian John “Jack” Sharkey, a World War II veteran, was honored during the June 16 City Council meeting, with his upcoming birthday, July 5, proclaimed “Jack Sharkey Day.”
A Native American of the Chippewa Ottawa tribe, he was born July 5, 1925, in St. Jacques in the Upper Peninsula.
He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, and was in Normandy on D-Day. On June 6, 1944, he was on a Landing Ship Tank 327 that delivered troops and tanks to shore.
He and his wife, the late Ruth Erickson, met in the UP, and were married in November 1946. They had seven children: Christine, Barb, Jackie, John, Tim, Paul and Tom.
Sharkey worked as a lumberjack in the UP until moving to Trenton, where he got a job on the Maida, a coal carrier based out of the Trenton Edison plant, and worked his way up to first mate.
After the ship was retired, he worked for E & I driving car carrier semi-trucks for 18 years.
Sharkey was an avid hunter, accomplished with both bow and rifle, enjoyed snowmobiling in his younger days, and was an accomplished woodworker.
He currently enjoys quieter pursuits, including doing word search puzzles and feeding birds from his front porch.
His daughters Christine, Barb and Jackie and his son Tim are still alive, and he has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.