TRIBUTES have been paid to the late farmer and family man Jim Jack, who was always generous with his time and advice.

John James 'Jim' Jack (89), late of Cavanaleck, Fivemiletown, passed away peacefully on March 6 at the South West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen following a stroke.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter on behalf of her family, Jim's eldest daughter, Helena, described her late father as “generous, mischievous and very loyal”.

“He was very chatty and enjoyed company, and he was very generous with his time,” she said, noting how he would often meet people out for dinner or just to have a good chat.

“But the most important thing was he was a very strong family man. Family was the most important thing to him – as well as farming,” she added.

Farming was a big part of Jim’s life. He grew up on his family’s farm in Newtownstewart, Co. Tyrone and took an active interest in the farm, rearing sheep as a boy. He later developed a passion for Aberdeen-Angus cattle.

In 1954, Jim came to Fivemiletown and worked as Assistant Manager at the creamery in the town. It was during this time that he met the lady who would become his wife and life partner, May Brattin.

Like Jim, May was also from a farming family. The couple first met when Jim was buying some cattle at the same sale as May's father.

They met once, and then he invited her to a dance at the rugby club in Enniskillen. They both also attended the same church, Cavanaleck Presbyterian Church.

Jim and May were married for more than 60 years, and celebrated their Diamond wedding anniversary in early 2020.

“They got married on February 20, 1960, so last year we had their Diamond wedding anniversary,” said Helena, noting how being able to celebrate this milestone with his three children, Helena, Heather and Guy, and their families, was very important to her father.

When the children were young, the family lived in Belfast before Jim and May took over the running of May's family farm in Cavanaleck, which Jim then farmed, going on to develop a herd of pedigree Aberdeen-Angus cattle, for which he became well-known for both locally and further afield.

For approximately 20 years he was on the council for the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society in Scotland, and he was only the second Irish person to become President of the international Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society, in 1994.

He was also instrumental in setting up the Aberdeen-Angus Quality Beef scheme with Foyle Meats, whereby they could guarantee the pedigree cattle going into the beef market, supplying supermarkets with guaranteed Aberdeen-Angus beef.

As well as running the farm, Jim also had a long career as a civil servant in the Department of Agriculture, holding the position of Chief Dairying Officer for Northern Ireland before his retirement.

When he retired at 60, he became a full-time farmer for another 25-plus years.

Throughout his life, Jim was very keen on supporting and encouraging young people into farming, particularly into Aberdeen-Angus farming.

Helena added: "There’s a Northern Ireland Aberdeen-Angus club which he was also a founding member of, and they have activities for young people to get involved in Aberdeen-Angus cattle farming. They would have had barbecues which he would have hosted here on the farm."

Arranged by Marcus Madill, S. R. Elliott Funeral Directors, Jim's funeral took place on Tuesday, March 9.

A much-loved husband of Mary Ann 'May'; a devoted father of Helena (Martin), Heather (Peter) and Guy (Helen); a dear brother of Roy, David, Iris and the late Holmes, Pearl and Leslie; and a very special grandfather and great-grandfather, Jim is very sadly missed by his family and all the family circle.

“[We'll miss] his presence at the head of the family. He would have co-ordinated things that we do, Christmas and family get-togethers. [We’ll miss] his stories and his generosity.

"He was generous with his time and his advice; anything that he had, he would share,” Helena told this newspaper.