Jack was born December 2, 1946, to John H. Tautges, Sr., and Mildred C. Tautges (Roy) in Cambridge, MA. He had an older sister Cheryl and an older brother Dan. Shortly after Jack’s birth the family moved from Somerville to Wilmington MA, where Jack attended Whitefield Elementary School. In 1959 the family moved to Santa Barbara, CA, where Jack attended Las Colinas Junior High and San Marcos High School. Jack was a straight A student and played varsity football his junior and senior years. Upon graduation he was accepted to California Polytechnic University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo, CA. He majored in Engineering and Mathematics. He met his wife Dennise Horrer there and they were married June 24, 1967. Jack entered the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant; he and Dennise welcomed their first son, John H. Tautges III (Jay) in 1969. Jack was promoted to Captain stationed in West Germany and was company commander of his unit of combat engineers. The coupled welcomed their second son, Christopher A. Tautges in 1971. After Jack’s discharge from the Army in 1973, the family returned to California where Jack returned to school and received his Master of Business Administration. He accepted a position with Bank of America, and was stationed in Guam, Manilla, Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur. The family returned to California in 1980 and Jack took over the Commercial Real Estate division of the bank and was promoted to Vice President. When the Savings and Loan industry collapsed, Jack accepted a position with the Resolution Trust Company, managing the disposition of failed institution assets. Jack’s wife Dennise passed away in 1996 from cancer and Jack moved to Falls Church, VA to work in the Baltic-American Enterprise Fund. He met his second wife, Kate McDermott in Washington, DC. Jack also worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development at this time, and the couple retired in 2007 and moved to Nebraska. 

When the financial crisis of 2008 occurred, both Jack and Kate moved to Dallas, TX to work at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Jack retired again in 2013. He suffered from cancer in 2013 and recovered but the cancer came back in 2021. After a brief battle of only 4 months, Jack passed away at his home on May 12, 2012. He is survived by his wife, Kate, sons Jay and Chris Tautges, and a stepdaughter Sali Lindenberger. Jack was always a perfectionist, and we are sure that he is telling God how he would do things. May he rest in peace. He will be greatly missed.