Former owner and president, Jack D. Bartingale, 86, passed away on Thursday, June 6, 2019. Jack leaves behind a legacy of leadership throughout the community as well as within our company. He worked hard to expand upon Bartingale Mechanical’s reputation for integrity and innovative, high quality mechanical workmanship.
He was born at Luther Hospital on September 18, 1932 to Adele (Benecke) and R.W. “Wes” Bartingale. Jack graduated from Eau Claire High School in June 1950 and from UW Madison (Bachelor of Business Administration from the Business School) in January 1955.
Jack met his future wife, Carol Guetschow, in history class and their romance continued through 63 years of marriage. Jack enrolled in Army ROTC at UW Madison, graduated from Basic Officers School in Fort Benning, GA and served as an Infantry Platoon Officer in Korea from September 1955 – January 1957.
For 7.5 years, Jack was employed with Marathon Paper Co. in Menasha, Milwaukee and Memphis. In September 1964, Jack and Carol returned to Eau Claire where he took over leadership of Bartingale Co. Mechanical Contractors. After 30 very successful years, Jack decided to help 7 outstanding employees set up a new parallel company and orchestrated the transition to Bartingale Mechanical Inc., which was also very successful. Bartingale Mechanical continued to grow year by year and the original Bartingale Company became a Personal Holding Company. Jack continued to mentor and advise the leaders of Bartingale Mechanical into 2019.
Throughout the years, Jack held leadership responsibilities at several organizations that were important to him and received numerous awards: Mechanical Contractors Association of WI – President; Eau Claire Rotary Club – President and a Paul Harris Fellow; Eau Claire YMCA – President; Chippewa Valley Symphony Foundation – Chairman; Luther Hospital Development Council– Chairman and Good Samaritan Award; UW Madison Alumni Association — Chippewa Valley Chapter – President and Badger Leadership Award; Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce — Business Hall of Fame; Eau Claire Community Foundation– Investment Committee Chairman and Board Trustee; Eau Claire Community Foundation — Society of Founders Fund Member.
Jack was deeply committed to his faith and his family and enjoyed spending time celebrating both. He was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and a regular attendee at weekly bible study where he enjoyed the company of many friends. He spent as much time as possible with his children and grandchildren attending many sporting events and recitals in the Twin Cities and relaxing at Chain Lake while imparting his unique wisdom and generosity to them all.
All of us at Bartingale Mechanical are grateful for the opportunity to continue the legacy of the Bartingale name. The lessons and example shown to us by Jack will be a positive influence on the future for many years to come.