Jack Martin SoRelleAugust 8, 1924 - July 15, 2010 Jack Martin SoRelle, 85, a lifelong Waco resident and retired independent insurance agent, died Thursday, July 15, 2010. Funeral services will be at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, July 17 at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit with the Rev. John Wells officiating. Burial with military honors will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. The family will receive visitors from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Friday, July 16 at Connally/Compton Funeral Home. Jack was born August 8, 1924 in Waco to Donald Martin and Orbie Lee Smith SoRelle. His maternal grandfather, Robert Edwin Smith, was the founding pastor of Highland Baptist Church in Waco and his uncle Carlton Smith was a member of the Baylor Board of Regents. Jack graduated from Waco High School in 1941. He enrolled at Baylor University, after his less than perfect eyesight prevented him from accepting an appointment to West Point, and matriculated for a year and a half before joining the United States Naval Reserve. In 1943, he entered active duty in the Navy's V-12 program at Southern Methodist University before being transferred to Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois, where he served in the base hospital. As World War II drew to a close, Jack was sent to Kwajalein Island in the Marshall Islands where he worked in the base hospital until receiving his military discharge as a Pharmacist's Mate Third Class in 1946.While still stationed at Great Lakes, Jack met college student Patricia Mary Ann Bernadette Murphy at a party given in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by future stage and screen star Colleen Dewhurst. They courted during the war and married in Waco on August 20, 1948. They reared five children and were married for 36 years before Pat's death from lung cancer in 1984. In 1987, Jack married Mary Nell Durie Taylor; they resided in Waco and would have celebrated 23 years of marriage in November. Upon returning from the South Pacific, Jack resumed his education at Baylor and, in 1949, graduated with his Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He then joined his uncle, Edwin M. Smith, as an insurance agent. Jack became a partner in this agency and assumed full ownership following Mr. Smith's death. In 1988, he merged with Dumas-Goble Insurance to form Brazos Valley Insurance Agency and remained a partner, with his son, Don, in this firm until his retirement in 1991. A well-respected insurance agent, Jack served a term as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Waco.After spending a number of years as members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Jack and his family became founding members of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, where he and Pat served as members of the Vestry Board, and he for many years as a lay reader. He also was a member of the Waco Order of DeMolay and the Better Investment Group. In addition, he spent many springs volunteering as a coach for his sons' baseball teams at Lake Air Little League. Jack also enjoyed travel, and his "Texas Trails" excursions became legendary in the memories of his children. His preferred reading was Texas and American history. An avid sportsman, he loved to play golf and to fish; he continued his weekly golf games with longtime friends until the last year of his life. Frequently, he combined these interests by pulling errant golf balls from the ponds around The Lake Golf Course. He remained a lifelong Baylor Bear, seldom missing a football or men's and women's basketball game, and Jack and Mary Nell were volunteers at the Baylor University Mayborn Museum.Jack was preceded in death by his beloved parents, his beloved wife, Pat, beloved sister-in-law, Ruth St. Claire Murphy, and only sibling, Robert Donald SoRelle. He is survived by his wife, Mary Nell; three sons, Dr. James SoRelle and wife, Dr. Cindy SoRelle, Donald SoRelle and wife, Kristi, and Mark SoRelle and wife, Melissa, all of Waco; two daughters, Sara SoRelle Downes and husband, Robert, of Arlington, Virginia, and Susan SoRelle Mahoney and husband, Michael, of Houston; fourteen grandchildren, Mallory SoRelle of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Elliott SoRelle, Jeffrey and Bradley SoRelle, and Courtney and Abigail SoRelle, all of Waco; Laura and Joshua Downes of Arlington, Virginia; Genevieve McNeff Faulkner of Jersey City, New Jersey; Mary Taylor Bone of Abilene; Meghan Taylor Cranmer of Alton, Illinois; Abby Taylor of Overland Park, Kansas; and Katie and Andy McNeff of San Antonio. He is survived by three stepsons, William and Daniel Taylor of Austin, and Roy Taylor of Springfield, Missouri, and one stepdaughter, Dr. Sally Taylor McNeff and husband, Jeff, of San Antonio. Pallbearers will be grandsons Jeffrey SoRelle, Elliott SoRelle, Joshua Downes, and Andy McNeff; and Easton Allen, Truman Bigham, Daniel Fred, and William Taylor. In living and in dying, Jack consistently exhibited a quiet dignity that was a model to his family and friends. Over the past few weeks, this pattern has been assisted by the physicians and staff at Hillcrest and Scott and White hospitals, by the hospice staff at Hillcrest Hospital under the guidance of Charla Hughes, and the administrators and staff at Lake Shore Village and Visiting Angels. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, 1624 Wooded Acres, Waco, Texas 76710, the Alzheimer's Association of Waco, 6605 Sanger Avenue, Waco, Texas, 76710, the Mayborn Museum at Baylor University, or a charity of one's choice. Arrangements under the direction of Connally/Compton Funeral Directors, Waco, TX.