Don (DJ) Jackowski - Flatdog has passed away

Damn! Godspeed...

 

He was a real character, with warmth and wit to spare. Lots of rough edges and a rough past, uneducated in terms of credentials but very well educated on his own through voracious reading on everything that interested him. He moved back and forth between a sea of books and a sea of wrenches...
He was one of the most intelligent people I know, disguised as Joe Lugwrench. He had an instinctive grasp of engineering, amongst other things, and could design, build, and develop anything mechanical, but his interests went far beyond just hotrods. He was as much a researcher as any academic I know...he knew how to find the issues in whatever he was working on, hunt down what was known, and develop his own thought from there.
I have a hundred unfinished discussions on airflow and such with him, and now the phone isn't going to ring with an engineering discussion whenever the shop gets slow.

 

sorry to hear this

 

The Man.......

 

prayers to the family.

Godspeed

 

my old friend and probably best buddy don jackowski [D.J.] past on today due to a heart attack he will be missed by all

 

Damn! Just met him at Hershey last year along with Smokey......I am saddened to hear this bad news.........my sympathies to his family....

Brucie

 

truely tragic

Bruce started a thread earlier..

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=257818

 

Oh no. Don was a really good friend of mine. I was going to visit him in 2 weeks. Wayno

 

No, say it isn't so. What a treasure to the flathead world. My best to his family.

Man, you just never know.

 

dam it I still have a message from him on my phone.
what a great guy !
he became a great friend . in the first few minutes of our first conversation
I was in awe when he wanted to talk to me.
although I was always worried about loosing a pinkie finger If I said the wrong thing, he had that Jersey thing down pat , and a great sense of humor.

we lost a big part of the hamb today, and a hell of a man !
I will miss you my flathead friend
I hope there's a drag strip up there and plenty of flatheads to play with

Rip and it was a honor to know you. and see ya later alligator .

 

I never had the pleasure of meeting the man, but sounds like a helluva guy... R. I. P.

 

Wow.
Bad news indeed.
Prayers to his family.
r

 

Oh my God, I'm at a loss for words. What a great guy, a great Hamber, but above all a great human being, husband and father. I'm so sad to hear this. My deepest condolences to his family

Geez...this hurts

 

It really sounds like he did a good job of being an inspiration to many. Many of you really talk of him in the highest regard and that is all a man could ask for in the end. I hope his son has the strength to keep his head high. My prayers are with him and his family as well as all of you that knew him. I am sorry.

 

This is Don's daughter, Cory, thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. Its so nice to hear all the good words about him. Thank you so much

 

Flatdog, You will be missed. RIP and I hope the healing for your family starts with this thread.

41 Dave

 

RIP with thoughts and prayers to the family

 

man this sucks, he just sent me these we were joking around about the Jersey look . it`s a sad day .





miss flatdog and the jersey look. I`m so sorry for your loss . he was a great man.

 

R.I.P. gone but not forgotten.

 

My condolences to your family Cory. He was a great pal and always made me laugh

One hot afternoon at the Jalopy Showdown in York Spings PA I offered him a cookie outta large tupperware container. He politely took one and I said "Go ahead and take another, they're small." As he was eating one cookie with his right hand, he took another cookie with his left and then slid that extra cookie into the front pocket of his white shirt saying "I'll save this one for later". As I looked at the long chocolate stripes going down from his shoulder to the pocket I pointed at the chocolate mess and stated "Your wife is going to kill you" at which he replied...."Naw, she's use to it!". We all got a great big laugh outta that.

He was also a very, very generous man....today is not the first time Flatdog has made me cry.

I'm truely sorry for your familys loss

 

I'd like to share a short story I have about DJ:

Donny was the first HAMBer I ever met in person after only knowing him on the HAMB. I was a newb at the engine game, and I was putting the heads on my 383 Chrysler. One of the exhaust manifold studs broke off DEEP in the head, making the nut welding trick impossible. When I broke an easy-out off inside the stud I knew I was screwed. I posted a thread on the HAMB asking for advice. DJ was one of the first to reply, and after a short conversation, he told me to bring the head up to his shop. I was taken back by his kindness, and he taught me how to remove a broken bolt with a O/A torch from cast iron. He was a craftsman for sure. God only knows how many neat tricks like that he knew, but thankfully I'm sure he's passed many of those along to others along the way. It was always nice to bump into him at the Road Agent's show or where ever.

DJ is about the only guy I've ever met who's hands dwarfed mine with a handshake. He'd be real intimidating if he wasn't such a nice guy

Cory, my prayers and best wishes for you and your family.

 

He was a great guy and will be greatly missed!!!!
Clark

 

Maybe we need a HAMB Hall of Fame section.
Damn, this sucks.........

I never met Flatdog, but I wished I had. Godspeed, man.

 

I didn't know Donny personally but he sounds like a great guy. He always had a lot to offer here.

RIP Flatdog.

JH

 

Never met him. But seems another great character is gone. Rest in peace.

 

DJ is the reason I'm here on the HAMB. I met him at Island early last year. He came riding on his scooter over to my car to look at the 235. He joked that the inlines and flatheads were natural enemies.
He just assumed an inline racer would be part of the HAMB, I said I heard about it but didn't belong.
And then I ran into him every race I went to last year, E-town, Maple Grove and Island. And TT Sundays too.
He lived one town over from me and we know a lot of the same people.

Damn, this sucks.

Frank

 

Man that is sad to hear. I met him for the first time at the showdown, very nice man, willing to share his wealth of knowledge, and funny also. He'll be sorely missed. My condolences to his family and friends. Godspeed man. later shawn

 

Wow...Sorry to hear of this. I'll be praying for his family.

Doc.

 

The flathead world has just lost another great one....

God's speed old friend and my best to his family.

Matt