Jack Rollie DeBaun

Jack DeBaud “shuffled off this mortal coil” on October 27, 2025, after succumbing to the complications of lung cancer. He was born as the only child to Lauren and Wanda DeBaun in Lewiston, ID on September 14, 1941. During high school he strove for academic excellence, serving as president of the National Honor Society and of his 1959 graduation class. It was through this educational experience that Jack first developed an appreciation for the power of the scientific method and critical thinking.

Following high school, Jack attended the University of Idaho where he earned a B.S. Degree in chemistry and an M.S. Degree in organic chemistry. At the University of Idaho, he met, fell hopelessly in love with and married the love of his life, Janice Craig, in June 1965. During that year, Jack and Janice moved to Madison, Wisconsin where he continued his education at the University of Wisconsin culminating in a Ph.D. in experimental oncology. Janice, ever the supportive partner, taught high school English to ease the financial burden associated with the costs of higher education.

After obtaining his Ph.D., Jack did a brief postdoc at U.C. Davis in the Department of Experimental Toxicology and then found permanent employment with an agricultural chemical company in Mountain View, CA. There he became manager of a research laboratory conducting environmental fate studies designed to test the safety of various products being registered by the company. During this time Janice worked in the Stanford University Hospital patient accounting department.

After 19 years in California, Jack and Janice fulfilled their ultimate dream of returning to Idaho. In 1988 they moved to Sandpoint, Janice’s hometown. Jack was fortunate to get a job with City, first with the Parks Department and then with the Drinking Water Department. He eventually was promoted to supervisor of that department where he was employed for 15 years. Janice continued her financial support by working at Family Heath Center.

Jack and Janice retired in 2005 which allowed them to enjoy more fully their pastimes of gardening, camping, RVing, and attending various national conventions. More importantly, it gave them valuable time to share the love and companionship they had nurtured throughout their marriage.

Jack, in keeping with his commitment to promote accurate science, wrote numerous letters to the editor of the Daily Bee dealing with the threat of global warming. As a secular humanist, he saw it as his responsibility to try to make life better for his fellow human beings. To keep that pledge, he volunteered at the Bonner County Food Bank and he and Janice delivered Meals on Wheels.

Jack’s cathedrals were natural unspoiled landscapes-a cedar grove, a meadow of wildflowers, a majestic range of mountains.

He was preceded in death be his mother and father, and is survived by Janice; a cousin, Greg Lucas, of Winston, OR, and two exceptional cats, Cedric and Charlie. At his request, there will be no funeral. Donations can be sent to Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.