Remembering Jack Middleton

By Robert C. Kirsch

Jack Middleton visited Mount Washington Observatory’s offices in North Conway, NH in September 2022 after receiving a commendation signed by Gov. Chris Sununu and resolution signed by NH State Senate President Jeb Bradley, honoring Jack’s work on Mount Washington. 

Early on the morning of September 8, 2026, his family, the greater Mount Washington community, and the Observatory lost Jack B. Middleton. Among accomplishments too numerous to mention, Jack was a Life Trustee, and a former Mount Washington Observatory President, Secretary, Board of Trustees Chair, and weather observer.

Jack grew up and attended public schools in Narberth, PA, a .5 square mile community on the Main Line, west of Philadelphia. In the summer of 1940, at age 11, he hiked Mt. Chocorua. The following summer he reached the summit of Mount Washington, ascending through Tuckerman Ravine and descending over Lion Head. He found the summit hotel to be “decrepit” and very much in need of repair, but he had hiked Mount Washington and the hook was set.

Between 1946 and 1950, Jack attended Lafayette College in Easton, PA. It was as a Lafayette student that Jack began what would be a life-long association with Mount Washington. From 1947 until 1949, during his freshman, sophomore, and junior year summers, Jack worked for the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) in Tuckerman Ravine, overseeing operations at the facility warmly regarded as “Ho Jo’s.” It was a foundational period for Jack during which he established many life-long relationships.

Jack’s plans to explore Alaska following his graduation in 1950 were disrupted when North Korean troops surged south across the 38^th parallel shortly after he arrived in Fairbanks. Instead of climbing Alaskan peaks, he spent 1950-52 on active duty in the Marine Corps.

Jack returned to his role in Tuckerman Ravine following his discharge in the spring of 1952. The Ho Jo facility had been destroyed by fire the previous year, and Mount Washington lore would have us believe much of Jack’s “work” that spring was accomplished at various times on the Tuckerman headwall, Hillman’s Highway, or Right Gully.

Jack also applied for a position at the Observatory when he returned from the Marine Corps, and in October, he was hired as a summit weather observer, beginning his lifelong involvement with the Observatory. The summit crew Jack joined was a notable one. It included Chief Observer Gordon Miller, who would become the first manager of the soon-to-be-established Mt. Washington State Park in the 1960s; Willie Hastings, who would go on to a legendary career as a NH Fish and Game officer; and Bruce Sloat, who would make his mark with the AMC at Pinkham Notch and as a North Country innovator and renaissance man.

While we do not have a lot of information about Jack’s service as an observer, we do know that he accomplished things no prior observer had achieved. At page 86, the March 1, 1953, New York times announced Jack’s engagement to the daughter of Joe Dodge, Miss Ann Dodge. In August of that year, Jack would marry the boss’s daughter, becoming part of the Observatory’s founding family.

Jack and Ann left Pinkham Notch for Boston in the fall of 1953 so he could attend Boston University Law School. They worked summers when Jack was out of school at the Dolly Copp campground, as the AMC then operated the facility on behalf of the Forest Service. Jack relayed stories of how campers complained when campsites were no longer free, and when free daily firewood delivery ceased.

In 1956 Jack sat for the New Hampshire bar, and that August he began work at the largest law firm in the state, becoming the tenth attorney working at the McLane Law Firm. It was an auspicious union that he and the firm would maintain until his death more than 70 years later.

In January 1957, Observatory President Dr. Charles Brooks called and asked Jack to fill the role of Secretary for the Observatory. Jack said yes and served the Observatory in that position until 2009, when he surrendered that post so he could serve a term as President.

When he accepted Dr. Brooks’ invitation to become the Observatory’s Secretary, the connections that would provide the principal framework of Jack’s life were firmly established and he advanced full throttle into the three relationships that he would maintain for the rest of his life. At McLane he became a leader of the firm as well as the state bar, and a mentor and role model for hundreds of lawyers during a career spanning seven decades. At home he and Ann were blessed with children Susan, Peter, and Jack Jr. and enjoyed nearly 60 years of family life. And Jack would diligently serve Mount Washington and the Observatory in innumerable capacities over the coming 70 years.

Jack was a lawyer’s lawyer, committed to his firm and the professional bar, and entrepreneurial in encouraging measures that would increase the availability of legal services to those who might not be able to pay for it on their own. He served as a District Court judge and for decades took on meaningful leadership roles within the New Hampshire and American bar associations. He was tireless in committing himself to efforts to improve his profession and quietly effective in the work needed to make legal services available more broadly in New Hampshire. At the McLane Firm – now McLane Middleton – Jack was legendary for his legal skills, mentoring abilities, and the enthusiasm and generosity with which he approached every member of his firm community. He was the soul of his firm.

His clients spanned the breadth of the New England economy and included iconic manufacturers, evolving tech companies, and world-renowned educational institutions. Of course, the Observatory and businesses and institutions associated with Mount Washington sought and benefited from Jack’s legal skills. At various times he represented the AMC, the Observatory, the Mt. Washington Summit Road Company (Auto Road), and the Mount Washington Railway Company (Cog Railway). And Jack’s memory of that work stayed sharp throughout his life. When we spoke in July, he recalled precisely the time and date of the September 17, 1967, accident on the Cog Railway, the fact that two of Ad (H. Adams) Carter’s “boys” had been passengers on that train, and that on his advice the Cog Railway had purchased a liability policy just weeks before that accident.

Jack’s personal life too was full and well-lived. Much of what he did in his leisure time involved the outdoors and mountains. He, Ann and their family hiked, climbed, skied, and traveled around the world including five continents. He would share his passion for hiking and climbing with professional colleagues and friends, leading many to recall assessing their limits on outings with Jack. He and Ann visited mountain ranges throughout the world, including Himalayan trekking with New England climber and guide Rick Wilcox. And as all who saw the trophies in his home could appreciate, Jack also hunted throughout the U.S., across the Americas, and around the globe.

Jack and Ann enjoy their last ski from the summit of Mount Washington.

Jack generously devoted his time and wisdom to many charitable and business organizations. He served on and often led boards for the Business and Industry Association, NH Public Radio, NH Public Television, the New England Council, Manchester United Way, Manchester Chamber of Commerce, The Nature Conservancy of NH, the White Mountain School, and NH Charitable Foundation, among others. His willingness to give of his time led to the often-shared idea that the list of New Hampshire organizations Jack did not serve on was shorter than the list of his involvements.

Jack’s exceptional generosity with his time was recognized by many organizations in a range of contexts that illustrated the scope of his community service. Some of the organizations feting Jack with awards and special recognition included Boston University Law School, the NH Bar Association, NH Business and Industry Association, the University of New Hampshire Alumni Association, and the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. And, of course, Jack was a first recipient of the Observatory’s Founders Award, which recognizes unique, long-term and transformative service to the Observatory.

In addition to all he did for others, the most consistent focus of Jack’s energies – with his family and firm – was Mount Washington and the Mount Washington Observatory. Jack’s roles with the Observatory are too numerous to mention. Following his conversation with Dr. Brooks in January 1957, Jack served as Secretary of the Observatory until 2009. In that role, he guided the corporation and generations of its Board of Trustees through procedures and decisions from the mundane to genuine crises.

He was first elected to the Board of Trustees in 1962. In addition to supporting hundreds of board and committee meetings, Jack played an active role in supporting summit operations, which were often the focus of Trustee work during that era. He was part of a 1960s leadership delegation, including Observatory President and famed cloud-seeder Dr. Wallace Howell, that met with NH Governor John King to obtain critically needed financial support. And he was still Secretary in 2003 when a fire destroyed state electrical generators leaving the summit and Observatory briefly without power. Jack had a hand in every major decision implicating the Observatory from 1957 until his transition to a Life Trustee in 2022.

In addition to his board service, Jack actively engaged with the broader Observatory community. He and Ann were regular presences at hundreds of meetings, receptions, and fundraising events all over New England. For many years he was stationed in the tower at the summit facility, welcoming hikers who visited as part of the Observatory’s annual Seek the Peak event. Nor did Jack’s active involvement end when he stepped down from regular board service. As a Life Trustee he remained active sharing his experience and expertise with the Nominations and Governance Committee and participating in a meeting of that group just days before his death.

Jack was a founding member of the Mount Washington Commission. He was first appointed by Governor Sherman Adams in 1969. Initially representing the Cog Railway and the Auto Road on the Commission, he replaced Joe Dodge as the Observatory’s representative until 2023 and continued to attend Commission meetings thereafter, until mobility challenges made it too complicated for his liking. His retirement from the Commission was widely reported in the press and recognized in a Declaration issued and personally delivered to Jack by Governor Chris Sununu.

Ann passed unexpectedly in 2012. With his family and network of support, Jack mourned her passing, honored her life, and continued. He had the remarkable fortune to develop a relationship and continue an active life with his partner, Sharon Gerard. Sharon’s smile became a welcome element of Observatory events, and with her support, Jack continued to travel, to spend time in his office, and to maintain the personal and professional relationships that kept him so vital.

Jack and Guy Gosselin, right, enjoy a moment together in Gorham, NH on August 15, 2023.

Jack and I met in the summer of 1978 in the Observatory when I was an observer. He was at the summit for a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. I was nervous, as Guy Gosselin, my boss, suggested Jack as a role model for me. I did not then appreciate what a high bar Guy was proposing. Ann and I made lunch for the group, and our friendship grew from there. Over the ensuing decades I had the pleasure of hiking with Jack, working with him as a lawyer, and sharing hundreds of hours in meetings and informal calls sharing ideas, energy, and love for Mount Washington and the Observatory.

Jack and I shared a final afternoon together in late July. We sat for hours and I left with assignments to send him a new detailed engineering plan of the summit and the title of a recent Mt. Everest book we had discussed. The final segment of our time was an interview to fill in aspects for this note. I reminded him that every time I had written of his accomplishments in the past, he had called to add a point or fix an inaccuracy. He smiled and was, as always, charming and gracious, when I pointed out I would not have the benefit of his edits this time.

With Jack’s passing, the Observatory’s link to its founders feels a bit more distant and their images seem more obscured as if by summit fog. Jack’s smile, his energy, and his zest for life were contagious and were gifts he repeatedly shared with all around him. The Observatory, the Mount Washington community, his firm, and all of the family and friends in Jack’s orbit were fortunate to have him with us for so long. We are better for having known him and miss him, even as we celebrate him.

Rest in peace, Jack.

Rob Kirsch, a former weather observer, is a member of Mount Washington Observatory’s Board of Trustees, currently serving as the Board’s Immediate Past President.