GREENWOOD
Jacob “Jake” Patrick Sluka, 86, passed away March 19, 2016, in Greenwood. He was a resident of Greenwood and formerly a resident of Tacoma, Washington.
He was born July 25, 1930, near Kimball, South Dakota, to Adolph John and Mary Christine (Svoboda) Sluka, and married Dorothy Jean (Doran) Hanson in 1951 in Yankton, South Dakota.
Jacob is survived by his wife of 65 years, Dorothy Jean Sluka; sister, Catherine Rew; and his children, David, Jeffrey, James, Jean and Mark; along with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He was predeceased by sons, Daniel and Damian; his parents; brothers, Gerald, Virgil and Walter; and sisters, Mary Margaret Richards and Patricia Ann Beadle.
Jacob served in the U.S. Army from 1946 to 1948 and in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1950 through 1953. In 1953 his reserve unit was activated and he was deployed to Korea as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, where he earned the Combat Infantryman Badge.
He attended Notre Dame High School in Mitchell, South Dakota, and received an applied science degree from University of South Dakota, Vermillion.
Jacob then spent 33 years as a nuclear engineer for General Electric Corporation and EBASCO Engineering Services in Richland, Washington, San Jose, California, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Taipei, Taiwan, Olympia and Tacoma, Washington.
He was an intelligent, honest, hardworking gentleman and a child of the Great Depression.
May he rest in peace.
Jacob was buried March 25 at Fir Lane Funeral Home & Memorial Park in Spanaway, Washington, next to his son, Damian.
