Sturtevant Funeral Home

Editors Note: The gathering at the Portsmouth Union Hall will take place immediately follow internment on Tuesday, not Monday night as stated in the Funeral home announcement. All Fire Service Personnel are asked to wear Class A Dress Uniforms if available per family request.

Portsmouth – Jack R. Lilienthal, Sr., 79, departed this life on June 5, 2009. He was a lifetime resident of Portsmouth, and was a retired Deputy Fire Chief of the Portsmouth Fire Department. He now rejoins his loving wife of 49 years, Geraldine Sears Lilienthal, who preceded him in death on July 10, 2006.

Surviving are their four children and their spouses, Joseph L. Sears (Sharon), Jack R. Lilienthal, Jr. (Peggy), Crystal Sears Jennings (Linwood), and Steven A. Lilienthal (Tonya). He is also survived by eleven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. He was elated that a new great-grandchild will join his family in July.

He was also preceded in passing by his parents, Julius John Lilienthal, Sr. and Shelly Hodges Lilienthal, in addition to his four brothers and sister.

He retired from the City of Portsmouth in 1984 after 36 years of service, 33 of them in the Fire Department. Before promotion to Deputy Fire Chief, he commanded the Training Division as a Battalion Chief. After his retirement, he was the owner of Lilienthal’s General Home Improvement Company.

He was an Honorary member of Portsmouth Local 539, International Association of Fire Fighters, serving as Secretary in his early years. In 1955, he helped organize Virginia Professional Fire Fighters, serving several terms as Charter Vice-President and Secretary- Treasurer. He was strongly committed to firefighter safety, fair pay and working conditions. After retirement, he held membership in the Portsmouth Retired Police and Fire Fighters Association until his death.

He was a charter member of Portsmouth Lodge #100, AF&AM, and its preceding Masonic Lodges since 1957. He was proud to been recently honored for his fifty years of Masonry. He was a member of Portsmouth Scottish Rite, Khedive Temple, Portsmouth and Chesapeake Shrine Clubs, and Khedive Temple Desert Patrol unit. He previously was one of the very early founders of the Khedive Fire Brigade.

A very active hunter, Jack enjoyed a lifetime of hunting and friendship in several different hunt clubs, including those in the Dismal Swamp area as a boy and young man, and was formerly a 46-year member of Sunbeam Hunt Club in Southampton County. Since 1999 he had hunted with the Bent Barrel Hunt Club of Sussex and Dinwiddie Counties. He will be sorely missed by his friends there and at the Hardee’s Breakfast Bunch, as well as his tailgating friends at UVA football.

A funeral service will be held 10 A.M. Tuesday, June 9, at Sturtevant Funeral Home, Portsmouth Blvd. Chapel by the Rev. Tom Potter. Burial will follow in Olive Branch Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Monday from 6:30 to 8:30 P.M. A reception in his honor will be held afterwards at Portsmouth Fire Fighters Union Hall, 3704 Winchester Drive. In lieu of flowers and because of his great love for all children, it is requested that memorial donations be made to “any charity that helps children in any way.”