HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

John Smith "Jack" Zink (October 17, 1928 – February 5, 2005), founder of Zeeco, Inc., was an American engineer who received 35 patents for his inventions in the field of combustion, and was also known for his achievements and contributions in business, auto racing and charitable enterprises.


Personal life

Zink was the son of John Steele Zink and Swannie Estelle Smith Zink. He was born and grew up in
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
and was educated at
Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
, where he earned a bachelor's degree in
mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...
in 1951. He died in Tulsa on February 5, 2005.Everett, Dianna. "Smith, John Smith (1928 - 2005)." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.''
Retrieved December 14, 2014.
Jack was survived by his wife, Jan, three sons, three stepchildren and a sister. A fourth son, Colin, died in 1993.
Accessed March 5, 2016.


Business

After graduation, he joined the John Zink Company, which his father had founded in 1929. By then, the company had specialized in manufacturing burners, flares, and incinerators for the petroleum and related industries. Jack received 35 patents for his inventions of combustion equipment. He continued to run the company from 1962 until 1979 when it was bought by Sunbeam Corporation. After his father's company was sold, Jack purchased a small company called "Product Manufacturing" and changed the name to Zinkco. "When the new owners of the John Zink Company complained that the "Zink" name was an international trademark for combustion equipment in the same way that "Kleenex" was a trademark for tissue and "Xerox" was a trademark for photocopiers, Jack changed the name of his company to Zeeco." While their headquarters are in Broken Arrow, OK, the company manufactures in the United States and other global locations. Jack passed control of Zeeco over to his son Darton in 2000. The University of Tulsa recognized him in 2001 as that year's Outstanding Business Leader. Jack served on the board of directors for several companies including Telex and Sunbeam.


Auto racing

Jack Zink was a sports enthusiast, and became especially identified with auto racing. He became involved not only in driving his own race car, but in design and construction of the vehicles. He first sponsored a race car in the 1952
Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
race, and continued to enter a car in each race until 1967. His entries won the races in 1955 and 1956. In 1957, he set a stock-auto speed record at Daytona Beach. He drove his own cars in desert off-road races from 1972 through 1980."John S. (Jack) Zink."
Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
He was inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.


Motorcycle Racing

Jack also competed in the 1972 Baja 1000 https://www.race-dezert.com/home/the-one-and-only-score-baja-1000-desert-race-161432.html riding a Husqvarna 400 with fellow Oklahoman Vern Street. Racing in category 8, motorcycles over 125cc's, they finished the grueling 1000 mile event in 6th place in their class and 24th overall out of 259 entries. Their total time was 25 hours/11 minutes. It was Jack's first off road motorcycle race, while his partner Vern, was a highly accomplished national caliber competitor. The bike now resides at the Zink Ranch Museum in Oklahoma. In 1994 Jack agreed to host the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) https://www.sixdays.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ISDE-1994-TULSA-OK.pdf at the rugged Zink Ranch. The Tulsa Trail Riders motorcycle club, founded in 1956, ran overall logistics and computerized rider scoring. Over 600 participants from all over the world competed for medals and trophies in this most prestigious off road event. The ISDE is widely known as the "Olympics of Motorcycling" as it tests not only rider skill/stamina but also machine reliability. Founded in 1913, this was only the second time in history the event was held in the USA.


Charitable enterprises and civic activities

Jack Zink became chairman of the John Zink Foundation, which his father, John Steele Zink, had founded. The foundation owned the John Zink ranch in
Osage County, Oklahoma Osage County is the largest county by area in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Created in 1907 when Oklahoma was admitted as a state, the county is named for and is home to the federally recognized Osage Nation. The county is coextensive with the ...
. Jack's father had started the working ranch many years before, but Jack had expanded it to . He also converted it to a private game preserve and recreation area. It also contains campgrounds for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. The Boy Scouts of America awarded him the
Silver Beaver Award The Silver Beaver Award is the council-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. Upon nomination by their local Scout council and with the approval of the National Court of Honor, recipients of this award are registered adu ...
and
Silver Buffalo Award The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting pro ...
. He was a frequent volunteer for the Tulsa Area United Way and became an honorary life member of United Way. In 1988, he served as chairman of the Tulsa organization and was credited with raising $12.5 million in contributions. He also received the Volunteers of America's Premier Award and the National Jewish Humanitarian Award.


1980 U.S. Senate Candidate

Zink was also interested in politics. His obituary in the ''Tulsa World'' called him, "a well-known Republican (party) operative." He ran for election as a Republican Party candidate for the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
in 1980, but lost the nomination to
Don Nickles Donald Lee Nickles (born December 6, 1948) is an American politician and lobbyist who was a Republican United States Senator from Oklahoma from 1981 to 2005. He was considered both a fiscal and social conservative. After retiring from the Senat ...
, who went on to win the general election. He died in Tulsa on February 5, 2005.


Motorsports career results


NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)


Grand National Series


Notes


References


External links

* of Zeeco, Inc. * of John Zink Hamworthy Combustion {{DEFAULTSORT:Zink, John Smith Jack 1928 births 2005 deaths Businesspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Philanthropists from Oklahoma Oklahoma State University alumni Oklahoma Republicans American mechanical engineers Auto racing people American motorsport people 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American businesspeople