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Jack Jenkins, a Cart Machine Pioneer, Is Dead

Rector continues plans for a salute to cart innovators

Illinois engineer Jack Jenkins, credited by his peers with helping to create the broadcast cartridge machine industry, has died at 77.

Industry colleague Andy Rector described Jenkins as a mechanical genius.

“He could take a complex concept and reduce it to a simple, reliable design. And, he had a unique capability in the creation of electro-mechanical products.”

According to an obituary in the Pantagraph of Bloomington, Ill., Jenkins was born Jan. 16, 1932, in Chenoa. He married Rita Wink in 1954 in Normal. She lives in Towanda. He is also survived by several children, 16 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, among other family.

Rector is part of a group who has been working on a Cartridge Machine Reunion in the fall. “The concept was to recognize Jack and others that pioneered the cartridge machine and, thereby, made a very significant contribution the broadcasting industry,” according to Rector. He’s going ahead with plans for the reunion as a way of remembering Jenkins.

“Jack influenced my life in many ways. Please join me in remembering and toasting a man that impacted all of our lives in many ways,” writes Rector.

Reach Rector at [email protected].

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