Jack Wallace Ledbetter

Jack Wallace Ledbetter was born on March 31, 1930, in El Paso, Texas, the elder of two sons born to Col. John Jackson Ledbetter Jr. and Loraine Leonora Lackey. His brother William Burl followed four and a half years later.¹

Annapolis

Jack grew up in El Paso during the Depression and wartime years. By 1947, he was president of the Senior Class at Austin High School. That spring, Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him principal nominee to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis after the primary appointee withdrew.²

On July 9, 1947, Jack and his father visited Johnson’s office at the House Office Building in Washington. Four days later, his father wrote: “Went to Annapolis this afternoon and saw Jack Wallace. He was sworn in yesterday as a midshipman US Naval Academy.”²

Jack graduated on June 1, 1951, with the Class of 1951. His father recorded: “Attended graduation exercises for Class of 1951 in Dalgren Hall US Naval Academy. Jack Wallace graduated and commissioned as Ensign USN. Gen George C. Marshall made principal address.”²

Marriage and Family

On September 3, 1952, Jack married Iris Geraldine Amick in Austin, Texas. They had four children:¹

• John Jackson Ledbetter II — born July 19, 1954, Portsmouth, Virginia. Married (1) Trisha Hamilton; (2) Paula Hines (November 1, 1974, Odessa, Texas). Daughter: Melinda Grey Ledbetter (May 19, 1988). Died March 19, 1990, in Austin.
• Robert Gordon Ledbetter — born February 27, 1960, Austin. Married Teresa Lyn McClellan, 1993.
• Brenda Jean Ledbetter — born November 22, 1961, Austin. Married Richard James Staples, 1990. Son: Marshall Kaelan Staples (January 14, 1992).
• Glenn Andrew Ledbetter — born February 24, 1963, Austin.

His first son’s birth in Portsmouth, Virginia — home to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard — reflects Jack’s early naval career, based on the East Coast in the mid-1950s.¹

Jack later married Bille Vaughn Bailey on November 25, 1979, in Austin.¹