Jess W. Boughton, was born September 19, 1918 in Salina, Kansas, where he graduated from Salina High School in 1936. He attended Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science for two years before joining the 22nd U.S. Navy Construction Battalion in March of 1942. As a 'construction man' he helped build bomber runways and other military facilities with the 22nd 'Seabees' on the northern Pacific island of Attu in the Aleutians. He later graduated from Midshipman School at Columbia University and served on Cinc Pac Staff under Admiral Nimitz at Pearl Harbor and Guam. After military service, he returned to Kansas State graduating in 1947 with a degree in civil engineering. His career took him all over the world, including Africa, South America and the Middle East. He was particularly proud of his work on the Arabian Gulf and Alaskan Pipelines. He was an Episcopalian, a 32nd Degree Mason and a Shriner. He loved to fish and read, keeping a life-long journal of every book he read. His family especially misses his sense of humor and his enjoyment of humor in others. His wife of 57 years, Fae Lorene McGlaughlin followed him in death in 2002. His family includes three daughters, Ann Boughton; Cris Boughton; Jane Mason; one son, Joseph Alan Boughton; five grandchildren, Geneva McKelvie, Deedy Grant, Joshua Boughton, Sean Babjak, Elijah Mason; and two great-grandchildren Grace Grant and Connor Babjak.