Jock Schwank, 87
Lake County Leader | UPDATED 4 days, 1 hour AGO
Jock Schwank
Colonel Jock C. H. Schwank, USAF (Ret.) passed away June 6, 2026, at St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson. He was 87 years old.
Jock was born in Davenport, Iowa, on July 11, 1938, to Walter and Helen (Timmons) Schwank. He graduated from high school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and from the United States Air Force Academy, as a member of the Academy’s second graduating class, in 1960.
Following pilot training, he met the love of his life, Hope Reavely. After a whirlwind six-week courtship, they were married on Nov. 5, 1961, and shared 56 wonderful years together until her passing in 2017.
Jock served his country for 25 years as an Air Force officer and pilot, flying C-130 aircraft and later Air Force rescue helicopters during the Vietnam War era. He later returned to the Air Force Academy as a faculty member and became the first Air Force Academy graduate to command the Preparatory School.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1985, he continued serving the Academy through the Association of Graduates and The Friends of the Air Force Academy Library.
Jock and Hope spent many summers with their young sons at their rustic, one-room cabin on Rock Creek in Montana, where he taught them to fish, build, work hard, and appreciate the outdoors. More importantly, he taught them how to be good men.
He is survived by his sons, David (Jill) Schwank and Blake (Christie) Schwank; granddaughters Ashley (Spencer) Herron, Katrina (Chase) Hamill-Schwank and Jessica Schwank; and his sister Jill (Grady) Howard. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Hope; his parents, Walter and Helen Schwank; and his sister, Jan Van Slyke.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at his home, 101 Jefferson Ct., Polson.
Services and interment will be held in early August at the United States Air Force Academy cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colo.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to a non-profit of your choice or to the Air Force Academy Foundation, 3116 Academy Dr., Unit 200, USAFA, CO 80840-4403. Messages of condolence may be shared with the family online at lakefuneralhomeandcremation.com. Arrangements are under the care of The Lake Funeral Home and Crematory.