Jack Grassel obit

Midwest musician Jack Grassel dies following medical episode, car crash

 

He was not on the list.

The Brief

Midwest musician Jack Grassel died following an Aug. 26 car crash in Caledonia.

Jack and his wife, Jill Jensen, performed together for decades and made over a dozen albums.

A celebration of life for Jack Grassel will take place on Oct. 18.

CALEDONIA, Wisconsin - Jill Jensen’s walls are covered with her husband, Jack Grassel.

He was renowned across the Midwest in his 72 years as a professional musician.

"Music was what he really had to do," Jensen said. "I’ve never seen anyone so devoted and passionate about something like he was for teaching and music."

Decades of music

What we know:

Jack and Jill shared decades of performing together. Jill was on vocals and Jack on strings, or really, anything he could find. He played everything.

Jill remembers when she fell for him – at one of his shows in 1998.

"So he puts down his guitar, comes over to the table and says ‘Hi Jill, I’m Jack. Let’s go find a hill, and I’m like, ‘Awwwww,'" Jill said. "We both swear, the lights got brighter and the room spun around, and we couldn’t stop looking at each other."

And the first time they performed together?

"We got goosebumps and looked at each other and said ‘We could do this.’"

Jack even found the time to create the Music Occupations Department at MATC and taught there for 20 years.

Jack and Jill spent all their time with one another and talked about music constantly.

"Like being with your best friend," Jensen said. "Really truly, we could talk about all aspects of it."

Medical episode and car crash

What we know:

But on Aug. 26, Jack had a medical episode in his car and crashed in Caledonia.

Jill was able to say goodbye at the hospital before he died later that night.

"I was only able to say ‘I love you my Jack, I love you my Jack.’ I kept stroking his hair. What I could touch because there was tubes and stuff all over him," Jill said.

Remembering Jack

What we know:

She has so many memories of Jack.

"We were just who we were," Jill said. "From our hair roots to our toenails with each other, and it was real and it was perfect."

And while her family is certainly showing her love during this time, it’s not hard for Jack to do as well through their music.

"It’s been an honor to be his princess," Jill said.

Jack would have celebrated his 78th birthday on Thursday. Jill and her family will hold a celebration of life for Jack on Oct. 18.

With a family to support, Grassel turned to teaching music and playing jazz locally. He worked with Rosemary Clooney, Slide Hampton, Stanley Jordan, Ed Thigpen, and Nancy Wilson. He created the Occupational Music degree program at Milwaukee Area Technical College and wrote the books Big Ax and Super Ax. He formed Frozen Sky Records. As a result of the first two records of his compositions "Magic Cereal" and "If You're Too Crazy", he was featured in the New Talent section of Guitar Player magazine and became a contributing writer.