JOHN A "JACK" CHOKO JR., 55, of Mauricetown, Commercial Township, died Friday at home after a lengthy illness.
He retired last year from Wheaton Industries, where he had been employed as the corporate designer for 31 years.
Mr. Choko was an Army veteran.
He was a member of the Mauricetown United Methodist Church, the Wa-Nok-Eee Bowmen Club, the South Jersey Scramblers Motorcycle Club, the Millville Elks and the B.P.O.E. 580.
Mr. Choko was an avid hunter and an active participant in the annual Millville Raft Race, being a member of the six-pack team.
He made glass paperweights and had formerly made patterns and models for the glass industry.
Born in Millville, he had been a Mauricetown resident since 1986.
Surviving are his wife, Molly A. (Westcott); two sons, Mark and John, both of Millville; two stepdaughters, Shari Elisano of Vineland and Stacy Woodlin, at home; his mother, Leah (Schull) Choko of Millville; and one granddaughter.
Services will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Christy Funeral Home, where friends may call from noon to 2 p.m.
Burial will be in Greenwood Memorial Park.
Contributions may be made to the Cumberland County Hospice, P.O. Box 2211, South Vineland 08360.
________________
Uncle Jack was the second husband of my Aunt Molly. A blessing to the entire family. His laughter would make everyone laugh....even if they didn't know what he was laughing at. His laugh was just that contagious! A sound I miss to this day...and sometimes still hear.
Jack was an award winning artist, even after death. In September 1992, American Glass Review gave his last project the "Best Packaging Award" for design of Chatham Winery bottle design (will add photo soon).
My Uncle Jack was a huge inspiration to my life as an artist. He was the extra push I needed to start. It all stated during a family picnic on one July 4th afternoon. We were playing "Win, Lose or Draw." It was my turn. As I was drawing, I heard him in the background say, "She is very talented!". From then on, he endowed on me the skills and knowledge to make it. I never realized that one little sentence could change your life so easily...until that day. His words stuck with me and I began to take art seriously. I finally realized that art was what I wanted to do with my life.
When Uncle Jack died, it was a very difficult time for me. To this day I never forgot what he has taught me. I know that he was my guiding light; my extra push that taught me to never give up and always follow my dreams. I have become an artist to show gratitude toward my uncle for his guidance
______
I want to thank Gay LeCleire Taylor, Director/Curator of Museum of American Glass for sending me the following article (from Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight Collectors' Association, Inc. 1991) written in 1991 as a memorial to my Uncle Jack. I also want to thank Paul J. Stankard for writing such a beautiful memorial. It is so wonderful to see that my Uncle was such a great inspiration to so many people.
An Appreciation For Jack Choko
by Paul J. Stankard
When I think of the many special people who had a positive impact on my career as a glass artist, my thoughts turn to a friend and South Jersey artist, the late Jack Choko (7/4/35-5/31/91).
I have always considered Jack an artist's artist because whatever he touched, he did so very well. Jack's talent and his love of the glass art has enhanced the South Jersey glass tradition.
Jack and I first crossed paths at Arthur Gorham's paperweight shop in Millville when I initially began making paperweights. He started just a few years before me. I recall how pleased I was to meet someone who shared my interest. Jack's family through four generations had worked in the glass industry in southern New Jersey, and his great-grandfather's company was the forerunner of Wheaton Industries. His perspective of glass history heightened my appreciation for the South Jersey glass tradition. We hit it off right away, sharing our opinions of the best of South Jersey's paperweight makers.
The depth of knowledge Jack possessed about the history of glass in South Jersey had impressed me. He knew the glassworkers and the paperweight makers. He had a strong resolved to help perpetuate the area's glass tradition. When I began my work, there weren't many with Jack's background for me to search out. I especially enjoyed traveling to Millville to listen to Jack and Pete Lewis, who shared the studio with Jack as a fellow paperweight maker, discuss paperweights.
As a self-taught paperweight maker, Jack mastered lampworking techniques for his weights. Encouraged by Arthur Gorham, he started in the winter of 1967 and learned basically by trial and error. He had been trained using Kimble (of Vineland) glass tubing in the 1950s by his grandfather, a lampworker who owned his own business, Shull Brothers Glass Company, which made glass hat pins. He was influenced artistically by South Jersey paperweights and craftsmen like Charles Kaziun, Ronald Hansen and Francis Whittemore, who at that time were amongst the few to make paperweights.
Jack made "tank" weights for a brief time in the Wheaton Hand Shop in 1968. But he stopped making weights in 1975 to turn his attention elsewhere, and returned to them only briefly late in his life.
Gay Taylor, Curator, Museum of American Glass in Wheaton Village, said that Choko "made weights just for the love of it." She added, "He was an extremely talented artist."
Gay said Choko struggled in the late 1960s and 70's before material was readily available. But she said Choko earned a reputation for versatility – from his mastering of the Millville rose to a salamander or a snake. He was thrilled by the challenge of experimentation.
A collector from Mauricetown, NJ, Jesse Morie, was one of Choko's closest friends. They came to know each other through their mutual fondness for hunting – first small game, then big game. Jack's weights were a reflection of his love of the outdoors, and he was great collector of Indian artifacts.
One of Jesse's favorite Choko stories is the time Jack became fascinated with the legend of the Jersey Devil and made his own Jersey Devil costume. He decided one day to dress in it and jump out of the thickets on a rural road near his Millville house to scare drivers. Not everyone thought it was amusing and Jack was reported and arrested. He later wrote a poem about this experience.
Jesse said, "Jack was always interested in art and it was only natural that he would pick up on paperweights. When you study his weights, you realize how much he loved roses, pansies and all flowers. Everything Jack did seemed to come naturally to him. He was versatile. He was very good at everything he did."
Jack made his living as a corporate designer for Wheaton Industries. In addition to working with glass, he was also talented at drawing, painting, wood working, and metal working.
Although he had experience with furnace glass working, Jack chose to make his weights via the lampworking technique. He lampworked wonderfully true-to-life lizards in their natural habitat, and developed a wide variety of snake paperweights. He did a magnificent job of reproducing the Millville rose.
It was a shame he went so many years without making weights. But not long before his death, Jack and Jesse Morie visited me in my Mantua, NJ home and studio. We relived some terrific memories. And during their visit, Jack used one of my bench torches to make a wonderful lizard and pine tree branch which we put together in a paperweight. It was the first time we worked together and was a creative celebration for both of us. I told Jack how much his kindness and openness had meant to me early in my career.
Jack was an extraordinarily creative man whose work and innovative approach I will always respect. I fondly remember a truly beautiful person who shared a love for nature and an appreciation of glass art.
______
Special Links and Articles:
Paperweight Collectors Association of Texas, Inc. Library Index (PDF As HTML), 1991
Table Of Contents for Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight ... (PDF As HTML), 1991
Table of Contents for Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight ... (PDF As HTML), 1991
Paperweights are Where You Find Them - UnRavel the Gavel - February 1997
Delaware Valley Chapter-Paperweight Collectors Association - Review Of Events Spring Meeting, April 28, 2001
Delaware Valley Chapter-Paperweight Collectors Association -Minutes of Chapter Meeting April 1, 2000
Displayed: "Millville Rose", Wheaton Arts (Formerly Wheaton Village), Millville, NJ (Picture Added Soon). The "Millville Rose" was donated to Wheaton Arts, by my Mommom, Doris May Sharpless Westcott. It is displayed at Wheaton Arts Paperweight Room.
________
Cause of Death: Pancreatic Cancer
He retired last year from Wheaton Industries, where he had been employed as the corporate designer for 31 years.
Mr. Choko was an Army veteran.
He was a member of the Mauricetown United Methodist Church, the Wa-Nok-Eee Bowmen Club, the South Jersey Scramblers Motorcycle Club, the Millville Elks and the B.P.O.E. 580.
Mr. Choko was an avid hunter and an active participant in the annual Millville Raft Race, being a member of the six-pack team.
He made glass paperweights and had formerly made patterns and models for the glass industry.
Born in Millville, he had been a Mauricetown resident since 1986.
Surviving are his wife, Molly A. (Westcott); two sons, Mark and John, both of Millville; two stepdaughters, Shari Elisano of Vineland and Stacy Woodlin, at home; his mother, Leah (Schull) Choko of Millville; and one granddaughter.
Services will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Christy Funeral Home, where friends may call from noon to 2 p.m.
Burial will be in Greenwood Memorial Park.
Contributions may be made to the Cumberland County Hospice, P.O. Box 2211, South Vineland 08360.
________________
Uncle Jack was the second husband of my Aunt Molly. A blessing to the entire family. His laughter would make everyone laugh....even if they didn't know what he was laughing at. His laugh was just that contagious! A sound I miss to this day...and sometimes still hear.
Jack was an award winning artist, even after death. In September 1992, American Glass Review gave his last project the "Best Packaging Award" for design of Chatham Winery bottle design (will add photo soon).
My Uncle Jack was a huge inspiration to my life as an artist. He was the extra push I needed to start. It all stated during a family picnic on one July 4th afternoon. We were playing "Win, Lose or Draw." It was my turn. As I was drawing, I heard him in the background say, "She is very talented!". From then on, he endowed on me the skills and knowledge to make it. I never realized that one little sentence could change your life so easily...until that day. His words stuck with me and I began to take art seriously. I finally realized that art was what I wanted to do with my life.
When Uncle Jack died, it was a very difficult time for me. To this day I never forgot what he has taught me. I know that he was my guiding light; my extra push that taught me to never give up and always follow my dreams. I have become an artist to show gratitude toward my uncle for his guidance
______
I want to thank Gay LeCleire Taylor, Director/Curator of Museum of American Glass for sending me the following article (from Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight Collectors' Association, Inc. 1991) written in 1991 as a memorial to my Uncle Jack. I also want to thank Paul J. Stankard for writing such a beautiful memorial. It is so wonderful to see that my Uncle was such a great inspiration to so many people.
An Appreciation For Jack Choko
by Paul J. Stankard
When I think of the many special people who had a positive impact on my career as a glass artist, my thoughts turn to a friend and South Jersey artist, the late Jack Choko (7/4/35-5/31/91).
I have always considered Jack an artist's artist because whatever he touched, he did so very well. Jack's talent and his love of the glass art has enhanced the South Jersey glass tradition.
Jack and I first crossed paths at Arthur Gorham's paperweight shop in Millville when I initially began making paperweights. He started just a few years before me. I recall how pleased I was to meet someone who shared my interest. Jack's family through four generations had worked in the glass industry in southern New Jersey, and his great-grandfather's company was the forerunner of Wheaton Industries. His perspective of glass history heightened my appreciation for the South Jersey glass tradition. We hit it off right away, sharing our opinions of the best of South Jersey's paperweight makers.
The depth of knowledge Jack possessed about the history of glass in South Jersey had impressed me. He knew the glassworkers and the paperweight makers. He had a strong resolved to help perpetuate the area's glass tradition. When I began my work, there weren't many with Jack's background for me to search out. I especially enjoyed traveling to Millville to listen to Jack and Pete Lewis, who shared the studio with Jack as a fellow paperweight maker, discuss paperweights.
As a self-taught paperweight maker, Jack mastered lampworking techniques for his weights. Encouraged by Arthur Gorham, he started in the winter of 1967 and learned basically by trial and error. He had been trained using Kimble (of Vineland) glass tubing in the 1950s by his grandfather, a lampworker who owned his own business, Shull Brothers Glass Company, which made glass hat pins. He was influenced artistically by South Jersey paperweights and craftsmen like Charles Kaziun, Ronald Hansen and Francis Whittemore, who at that time were amongst the few to make paperweights.
Jack made "tank" weights for a brief time in the Wheaton Hand Shop in 1968. But he stopped making weights in 1975 to turn his attention elsewhere, and returned to them only briefly late in his life.
Gay Taylor, Curator, Museum of American Glass in Wheaton Village, said that Choko "made weights just for the love of it." She added, "He was an extremely talented artist."
Gay said Choko struggled in the late 1960s and 70's before material was readily available. But she said Choko earned a reputation for versatility – from his mastering of the Millville rose to a salamander or a snake. He was thrilled by the challenge of experimentation.
A collector from Mauricetown, NJ, Jesse Morie, was one of Choko's closest friends. They came to know each other through their mutual fondness for hunting – first small game, then big game. Jack's weights were a reflection of his love of the outdoors, and he was great collector of Indian artifacts.
One of Jesse's favorite Choko stories is the time Jack became fascinated with the legend of the Jersey Devil and made his own Jersey Devil costume. He decided one day to dress in it and jump out of the thickets on a rural road near his Millville house to scare drivers. Not everyone thought it was amusing and Jack was reported and arrested. He later wrote a poem about this experience.
Jesse said, "Jack was always interested in art and it was only natural that he would pick up on paperweights. When you study his weights, you realize how much he loved roses, pansies and all flowers. Everything Jack did seemed to come naturally to him. He was versatile. He was very good at everything he did."
Jack made his living as a corporate designer for Wheaton Industries. In addition to working with glass, he was also talented at drawing, painting, wood working, and metal working.
Although he had experience with furnace glass working, Jack chose to make his weights via the lampworking technique. He lampworked wonderfully true-to-life lizards in their natural habitat, and developed a wide variety of snake paperweights. He did a magnificent job of reproducing the Millville rose.
It was a shame he went so many years without making weights. But not long before his death, Jack and Jesse Morie visited me in my Mantua, NJ home and studio. We relived some terrific memories. And during their visit, Jack used one of my bench torches to make a wonderful lizard and pine tree branch which we put together in a paperweight. It was the first time we worked together and was a creative celebration for both of us. I told Jack how much his kindness and openness had meant to me early in my career.
Jack was an extraordinarily creative man whose work and innovative approach I will always respect. I fondly remember a truly beautiful person who shared a love for nature and an appreciation of glass art.
______
Special Links and Articles:
Paperweight Collectors Association of Texas, Inc. Library Index (PDF As HTML), 1991
Table Of Contents for Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight ... (PDF As HTML), 1991
Table of Contents for Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight ... (PDF As HTML), 1991
Paperweights are Where You Find Them - UnRavel the Gavel - February 1997
Delaware Valley Chapter-Paperweight Collectors Association - Review Of Events Spring Meeting, April 28, 2001
Delaware Valley Chapter-Paperweight Collectors Association -Minutes of Chapter Meeting April 1, 2000
Displayed: "Millville Rose", Wheaton Arts (Formerly Wheaton Village), Millville, NJ (Picture Added Soon). The "Millville Rose" was donated to Wheaton Arts, by my Mommom, Doris May Sharpless Westcott. It is displayed at Wheaton Arts Paperweight Room.
________
Cause of Death: Pancreatic Cancer
JOHN A "JACK" CHOKO JR., 55, of Mauricetown, Commercial Township, died Friday at home after a lengthy illness.
He retired last year from Wheaton Industries, where he had been employed as the corporate designer for 31 years.
Mr. Choko was an Army veteran.
He was a member of the Mauricetown United Methodist Church, the Wa-Nok-Eee Bowmen Club, the South Jersey Scramblers Motorcycle Club, the Millville Elks and the B.P.O.E. 580.
Mr. Choko was an avid hunter and an active participant in the annual Millville Raft Race, being a member of the six-pack team.
He made glass paperweights and had formerly made patterns and models for the glass industry.
Born in Millville, he had been a Mauricetown resident since 1986.
Surviving are his wife, Molly A. (Westcott); two sons, Mark and John, both of Millville; two stepdaughters, Shari Elisano of Vineland and Stacy Woodlin, at home; his mother, Leah (Schull) Choko of Millville; and one granddaughter.
Services will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Christy Funeral Home, where friends may call from noon to 2 p.m.
Burial will be in Greenwood Memorial Park.
Contributions may be made to the Cumberland County Hospice, P.O. Box 2211, South Vineland 08360.
________________
Uncle Jack was the second husband of my Aunt Molly. A blessing to the entire family. His laughter would make everyone laugh....even if they didn't know what he was laughing at. His laugh was just that contagious! A sound I miss to this day...and sometimes still hear.
Jack was an award winning artist, even after death. In September 1992, American Glass Review gave his last project the "Best Packaging Award" for design of Chatham Winery bottle design (will add photo soon).
My Uncle Jack was a huge inspiration to my life as an artist. He was the extra push I needed to start. It all stated during a family picnic on one July 4th afternoon. We were playing "Win, Lose or Draw." It was my turn. As I was drawing, I heard him in the background say, "She is very talented!". From then on, he endowed on me the skills and knowledge to make it. I never realized that one little sentence could change your life so easily...until that day. His words stuck with me and I began to take art seriously. I finally realized that art was what I wanted to do with my life.
When Uncle Jack died, it was a very difficult time for me. To this day I never forgot what he has taught me. I know that he was my guiding light; my extra push that taught me to never give up and always follow my dreams. I have become an artist to show gratitude toward my uncle for his guidance
______
I want to thank Gay LeCleire Taylor, Director/Curator of Museum of American Glass for sending me the following article (from Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight Collectors' Association, Inc. 1991) written in 1991 as a memorial to my Uncle Jack. I also want to thank Paul J. Stankard for writing such a beautiful memorial. It is so wonderful to see that my Uncle was such a great inspiration to so many people.
An Appreciation For Jack Choko
by Paul J. Stankard
When I think of the many special people who had a positive impact on my career as a glass artist, my thoughts turn to a friend and South Jersey artist, the late Jack Choko (7/4/35-5/31/91).
I have always considered Jack an artist's artist because whatever he touched, he did so very well. Jack's talent and his love of the glass art has enhanced the South Jersey glass tradition.
Jack and I first crossed paths at Arthur Gorham's paperweight shop in Millville when I initially began making paperweights. He started just a few years before me. I recall how pleased I was to meet someone who shared my interest. Jack's family through four generations had worked in the glass industry in southern New Jersey, and his great-grandfather's company was the forerunner of Wheaton Industries. His perspective of glass history heightened my appreciation for the South Jersey glass tradition. We hit it off right away, sharing our opinions of the best of South Jersey's paperweight makers.
The depth of knowledge Jack possessed about the history of glass in South Jersey had impressed me. He knew the glassworkers and the paperweight makers. He had a strong resolved to help perpetuate the area's glass tradition. When I began my work, there weren't many with Jack's background for me to search out. I especially enjoyed traveling to Millville to listen to Jack and Pete Lewis, who shared the studio with Jack as a fellow paperweight maker, discuss paperweights.
As a self-taught paperweight maker, Jack mastered lampworking techniques for his weights. Encouraged by Arthur Gorham, he started in the winter of 1967 and learned basically by trial and error. He had been trained using Kimble (of Vineland) glass tubing in the 1950s by his grandfather, a lampworker who owned his own business, Shull Brothers Glass Company, which made glass hat pins. He was influenced artistically by South Jersey paperweights and craftsmen like Charles Kaziun, Ronald Hansen and Francis Whittemore, who at that time were amongst the few to make paperweights.
Jack made "tank" weights for a brief time in the Wheaton Hand Shop in 1968. But he stopped making weights in 1975 to turn his attention elsewhere, and returned to them only briefly late in his life.
Gay Taylor, Curator, Museum of American Glass in Wheaton Village, said that Choko "made weights just for the love of it." She added, "He was an extremely talented artist."
Gay said Choko struggled in the late 1960s and 70's before material was readily available. But she said Choko earned a reputation for versatility – from his mastering of the Millville rose to a salamander or a snake. He was thrilled by the challenge of experimentation.
A collector from Mauricetown, NJ, Jesse Morie, was one of Choko's closest friends. They came to know each other through their mutual fondness for hunting – first small game, then big game. Jack's weights were a reflection of his love of the outdoors, and he was great collector of Indian artifacts.
One of Jesse's favorite Choko stories is the time Jack became fascinated with the legend of the Jersey Devil and made his own Jersey Devil costume. He decided one day to dress in it and jump out of the thickets on a rural road near his Millville house to scare drivers. Not everyone thought it was amusing and Jack was reported and arrested. He later wrote a poem about this experience.
Jesse said, "Jack was always interested in art and it was only natural that he would pick up on paperweights. When you study his weights, you realize how much he loved roses, pansies and all flowers. Everything Jack did seemed to come naturally to him. He was versatile. He was very good at everything he did."
Jack made his living as a corporate designer for Wheaton Industries. In addition to working with glass, he was also talented at drawing, painting, wood working, and metal working.
Although he had experience with furnace glass working, Jack chose to make his weights via the lampworking technique. He lampworked wonderfully true-to-life lizards in their natural habitat, and developed a wide variety of snake paperweights. He did a magnificent job of reproducing the Millville rose.
It was a shame he went so many years without making weights. But not long before his death, Jack and Jesse Morie visited me in my Mantua, NJ home and studio. We relived some terrific memories. And during their visit, Jack used one of my bench torches to make a wonderful lizard and pine tree branch which we put together in a paperweight. It was the first time we worked together and was a creative celebration for both of us. I told Jack how much his kindness and openness had meant to me early in my career.
Jack was an extraordinarily creative man whose work and innovative approach I will always respect. I fondly remember a truly beautiful person who shared a love for nature and an appreciation of glass art.
______
Special Links and Articles:
Paperweight Collectors Association of Texas, Inc. Library Index (PDF As HTML), 1991
Table Of Contents for Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight ... (PDF As HTML), 1991
Table of Contents for Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight ... (PDF As HTML), 1991
Paperweights are Where You Find Them - UnRavel the Gavel - February 1997
Delaware Valley Chapter-Paperweight Collectors Association - Review Of Events Spring Meeting, April 28, 2001
Delaware Valley Chapter-Paperweight Collectors Association -Minutes of Chapter Meeting April 1, 2000
Displayed: "Millville Rose", Wheaton Arts (Formerly Wheaton Village), Millville, NJ (Picture Added Soon). The "Millville Rose" was donated to Wheaton Arts, by my Mommom, Doris May Sharpless Westcott. It is displayed at Wheaton Arts Paperweight Room.
________
Cause of Death: Pancreatic Cancer
He retired last year from Wheaton Industries, where he had been employed as the corporate designer for 31 years.
Mr. Choko was an Army veteran.
He was a member of the Mauricetown United Methodist Church, the Wa-Nok-Eee Bowmen Club, the South Jersey Scramblers Motorcycle Club, the Millville Elks and the B.P.O.E. 580.
Mr. Choko was an avid hunter and an active participant in the annual Millville Raft Race, being a member of the six-pack team.
He made glass paperweights and had formerly made patterns and models for the glass industry.
Born in Millville, he had been a Mauricetown resident since 1986.
Surviving are his wife, Molly A. (Westcott); two sons, Mark and John, both of Millville; two stepdaughters, Shari Elisano of Vineland and Stacy Woodlin, at home; his mother, Leah (Schull) Choko of Millville; and one granddaughter.
Services will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Christy Funeral Home, where friends may call from noon to 2 p.m.
Burial will be in Greenwood Memorial Park.
Contributions may be made to the Cumberland County Hospice, P.O. Box 2211, South Vineland 08360.
________________
Uncle Jack was the second husband of my Aunt Molly. A blessing to the entire family. His laughter would make everyone laugh....even if they didn't know what he was laughing at. His laugh was just that contagious! A sound I miss to this day...and sometimes still hear.
Jack was an award winning artist, even after death. In September 1992, American Glass Review gave his last project the "Best Packaging Award" for design of Chatham Winery bottle design (will add photo soon).
My Uncle Jack was a huge inspiration to my life as an artist. He was the extra push I needed to start. It all stated during a family picnic on one July 4th afternoon. We were playing "Win, Lose or Draw." It was my turn. As I was drawing, I heard him in the background say, "She is very talented!". From then on, he endowed on me the skills and knowledge to make it. I never realized that one little sentence could change your life so easily...until that day. His words stuck with me and I began to take art seriously. I finally realized that art was what I wanted to do with my life.
When Uncle Jack died, it was a very difficult time for me. To this day I never forgot what he has taught me. I know that he was my guiding light; my extra push that taught me to never give up and always follow my dreams. I have become an artist to show gratitude toward my uncle for his guidance
______
I want to thank Gay LeCleire Taylor, Director/Curator of Museum of American Glass for sending me the following article (from Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight Collectors' Association, Inc. 1991) written in 1991 as a memorial to my Uncle Jack. I also want to thank Paul J. Stankard for writing such a beautiful memorial. It is so wonderful to see that my Uncle was such a great inspiration to so many people.
An Appreciation For Jack Choko
by Paul J. Stankard
When I think of the many special people who had a positive impact on my career as a glass artist, my thoughts turn to a friend and South Jersey artist, the late Jack Choko (7/4/35-5/31/91).
I have always considered Jack an artist's artist because whatever he touched, he did so very well. Jack's talent and his love of the glass art has enhanced the South Jersey glass tradition.
Jack and I first crossed paths at Arthur Gorham's paperweight shop in Millville when I initially began making paperweights. He started just a few years before me. I recall how pleased I was to meet someone who shared my interest. Jack's family through four generations had worked in the glass industry in southern New Jersey, and his great-grandfather's company was the forerunner of Wheaton Industries. His perspective of glass history heightened my appreciation for the South Jersey glass tradition. We hit it off right away, sharing our opinions of the best of South Jersey's paperweight makers.
The depth of knowledge Jack possessed about the history of glass in South Jersey had impressed me. He knew the glassworkers and the paperweight makers. He had a strong resolved to help perpetuate the area's glass tradition. When I began my work, there weren't many with Jack's background for me to search out. I especially enjoyed traveling to Millville to listen to Jack and Pete Lewis, who shared the studio with Jack as a fellow paperweight maker, discuss paperweights.
As a self-taught paperweight maker, Jack mastered lampworking techniques for his weights. Encouraged by Arthur Gorham, he started in the winter of 1967 and learned basically by trial and error. He had been trained using Kimble (of Vineland) glass tubing in the 1950s by his grandfather, a lampworker who owned his own business, Shull Brothers Glass Company, which made glass hat pins. He was influenced artistically by South Jersey paperweights and craftsmen like Charles Kaziun, Ronald Hansen and Francis Whittemore, who at that time were amongst the few to make paperweights.
Jack made "tank" weights for a brief time in the Wheaton Hand Shop in 1968. But he stopped making weights in 1975 to turn his attention elsewhere, and returned to them only briefly late in his life.
Gay Taylor, Curator, Museum of American Glass in Wheaton Village, said that Choko "made weights just for the love of it." She added, "He was an extremely talented artist."
Gay said Choko struggled in the late 1960s and 70's before material was readily available. But she said Choko earned a reputation for versatility – from his mastering of the Millville rose to a salamander or a snake. He was thrilled by the challenge of experimentation.
A collector from Mauricetown, NJ, Jesse Morie, was one of Choko's closest friends. They came to know each other through their mutual fondness for hunting – first small game, then big game. Jack's weights were a reflection of his love of the outdoors, and he was great collector of Indian artifacts.
One of Jesse's favorite Choko stories is the time Jack became fascinated with the legend of the Jersey Devil and made his own Jersey Devil costume. He decided one day to dress in it and jump out of the thickets on a rural road near his Millville house to scare drivers. Not everyone thought it was amusing and Jack was reported and arrested. He later wrote a poem about this experience.
Jesse said, "Jack was always interested in art and it was only natural that he would pick up on paperweights. When you study his weights, you realize how much he loved roses, pansies and all flowers. Everything Jack did seemed to come naturally to him. He was versatile. He was very good at everything he did."
Jack made his living as a corporate designer for Wheaton Industries. In addition to working with glass, he was also talented at drawing, painting, wood working, and metal working.
Although he had experience with furnace glass working, Jack chose to make his weights via the lampworking technique. He lampworked wonderfully true-to-life lizards in their natural habitat, and developed a wide variety of snake paperweights. He did a magnificent job of reproducing the Millville rose.
It was a shame he went so many years without making weights. But not long before his death, Jack and Jesse Morie visited me in my Mantua, NJ home and studio. We relived some terrific memories. And during their visit, Jack used one of my bench torches to make a wonderful lizard and pine tree branch which we put together in a paperweight. It was the first time we worked together and was a creative celebration for both of us. I told Jack how much his kindness and openness had meant to me early in my career.
Jack was an extraordinarily creative man whose work and innovative approach I will always respect. I fondly remember a truly beautiful person who shared a love for nature and an appreciation of glass art.
______
Special Links and Articles:
Paperweight Collectors Association of Texas, Inc. Library Index (PDF As HTML), 1991
Table Of Contents for Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight ... (PDF As HTML), 1991
Table of Contents for Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight ... (PDF As HTML), 1991
Paperweights are Where You Find Them - UnRavel the Gavel - February 1997
Delaware Valley Chapter-Paperweight Collectors Association - Review Of Events Spring Meeting, April 28, 2001
Delaware Valley Chapter-Paperweight Collectors Association -Minutes of Chapter Meeting April 1, 2000
Displayed: "Millville Rose", Wheaton Arts (Formerly Wheaton Village), Millville, NJ (Picture Added Soon). The "Millville Rose" was donated to Wheaton Arts, by my Mommom, Doris May Sharpless Westcott. It is displayed at Wheaton Arts Paperweight Room.
________
Cause of Death: Pancreatic Cancer
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