Philanthropist, business leader, and longtime supporter and friend to Heritage University, John “Jack” Bloxom Jr., passed away on December 8, 2025, at the age of 92.

Bloxom’s commitment to Heritage University and its students goes back more than 40 years. In the early 1980s, when he first heard about Heritage, he thought of the people who worked for his family businesses, Washington Fruit and Produce and Mount Adams Orchards, and their children. He recognized the limited opportunities they faced without an education.

“I started to get involved with Heritage because of the opportunities they presented to the children of the farmworker families with whom I was so familiar,” said Bloxom during an interview a few years ago.

Bloxom’s impact on the university touched nearly every aspect of the institution. He served on the Board of Directors for 10 years, starting in 1989. During his tenure, he led the university through its first capital campaign, raising $5 million and, ultimately, the construction of the first permanent building on campus, now called the Kathleen Ross SNJM Center, which allowed the university to open a full college library. Over the years, his support helped build many of the university’s cornerstone facilities, including the Arts and Sciences Center, the Gaye and Jim Pigott Commons, the Martha B. Yallup Health Sciences Building, and the Violet Lumley Rau Center, which houses the Jack and Connie Bloxom Classroom.

In addition to his support of the university campus, Bloxom was committed to helping students directly. He and his wife established two endowed scholarships, which will provide funding to students in perpetuity. He also provided support to establish student service projects, including the development of Student Life.

Heritage was only one of many Yakima-area nonprofit organizations supported by Bloxom. He was a third-generation Rotarian who served on 27 different committees within the organization, and he was a benefactor of many Yakima organizations in the areas of education, the arts, social services, healthcare, and the environment.

In recognition of his lifelong service to the Yakima Valley, Jack and his wife, Connie, received the 2018 Ted Robertson Community Service Award, and in 2025, United Way of Central Washington renamed its annual honor the Jack and Connie Bloxom Community Service Award.

At Jack’s request, his celebration of life was held at Heritage. His family requested that contributions made in Jack’s memory be directed to Heritage or organizations that continue his legacy of strengthening the Yakima Valley.