Cover photo for Garland (Jack) Compston's Obituary
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Garland (Jack) Compston

August 13, 1906 — April 5, 2006

Garland (Jack) Compston

Garland (Jack) Compston, age 99 of Forest City, died Wednesday, April 5, 2006 at the Good Samaritan Center in Forest City. Funeral service will be Monday, April 10, 2006 at 11:00 AM at the United Methodist Church in Forest City with Pastor Jerald Swanberg officiating. Burial will be at Oakland Cemetery in Forest City. Visitation will be Sunday, April 9 from 3 to 6 PM at the funeral home and an hour prior to service at the church.





Garland ìJackî Compston was born in Charleston, West Virginia on August 13, 1906. He grew up in Ohio in the home of his grandparents, Newt and Sarah (Sidenstricker) Compston. In this large, loving family, his aunts and uncles were like siblings to him.





Jack left home when he was 12 years old. He attended Marion Business College in Ohio. He moved to Chicago, Illinois and found a job with a teletype firm. He later began selling vacuum cleaners door to door.





On June 30, 1937 he married Ann Clark at Wheaton, Illinois. The couple made their home in Chicago where they owned and operated a grocery store. In 1942 they moved to a farm near Wabena, Wisconsin and it was here, in 1944, they bought their first movie theater. The couple eventually owned and operated several theaters and were involved with owning or leasing and improving theaters in various communities. After a brief time in Arlington, Washington, the family returned to the Midwest and in 1954, purchased the Forest Theater in Forest City, Iowa. In 1967 Jack designed and built the theaters in Decorah, Iowa. Jack operated the Forest Theater until retiring in 1974. He and Ann enjoyed traveling in their travel trailers and Winnebago motor home, spending time in Texas and Florida.





Jack was an avid sportsman who loved to hunt and fish. He enjoyed yearly fishing trips to Canada and Minnesota with family and friends and loved hunting pheasants with his dogs. He was a member of the United Methodist Church in Forest City. Jack was very focused on his family and dedicated to his work.





He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Cathy Compston of Forest City; granddaughter Catina Kinney and her husband Scott and great-grandchildren Brendon and Abigail Kinney, all of Enterprise, Alabama.





Jack was preceded in death by his loving grandmother and his wife Ann, who died on July 7, 2000.
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