Remarks prepared for delivery.

Good morning. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be with you today and to have the opportunity to say goodbye to Jack, and to join the chorus celebrating his life.

As many of you know, Jack retired from the Bureau in 2009. I never had the privilege of serving alongside him, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have the opportunity to get to know his generous spirit. Really, it’s because of his generous spirit that I had an opportunity to get to know about Jack. Jack’s FBI career took him a whole bunch of places—North Carolina, New York, the Washington Field Office, and Headquarters. But wherever it took him, and Sandy, and their kids, Jack was always interested in looking out for anyone who found themselves in need—whether the victim of a crime or a terrorist attack. Or the close friend who I’m told dared to wear Red Sox gear into Yankee Stadium. 

Like many in our FBI Family, Jack’s life and career pivoted around the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He responded to the Pentagon that fateful day to evaluate how we would gather evidence of what had happened. And then, for the next eight years—the rest of his career—he served in critical roles helping determine how the FBI would reshape itself in response to 9/11.

I know for a fact that the FBI is better today because of Jack. The way we integrate intelligence and emphasize partnerships. And how we approach task after task with rigor and urgency. 

But with that said, people don’t talk about how Jack changed processes. The people who knew Jack best talk about how affected they were by his humble mentorship. By how much he genuinely cared about the people around him. By his leadership as a special agent, which created another generation of leaders. And by how he continued to stay involved and connected to our FBI Family after he retired from the Bureau. 

Many here today have heard about his generous work with the FBI Agents Association. I want to add—when Jack found out that his just four hours of exposure to toxic fumes at the Pentagon had caused his cancer. He didn’t stop to dwell on just how unfair that was. His thoughts went to his family and to members of his FBI Family who might suffer similar effects in the aftermath of their response on 9/11. One incredibly generous thing he did—he worked with our public affairs team, including being interviewed on camera in 2019, to make sure other employees who were around the 9/11 sites knew the risks inherent in their response, and the resources available to them. That’s just one small, but incredibly impactful example of the way Jack conducted himself—as a servant leader, always considering others first.

So, today, I’m here on behalf of the Bureau to express our gratitude for Jack and his family. Sandy, thank you for your service to the Bureau 
And thanks to you, John, Ryan, Thomas, and Meghan for sharing Jack with us. You will all—always be a part of our FBI Family.

If you’ll permit me I’d like to close with a challenge this morning—for everyone. I would like for us all to walk out of here carrying even just a piece of Jack’s generous spirit. Just a little bit of his ability to see what it is that people need. And a willingness to do something about it. That seems to have been Jack’s legacy with everyone I’ve talked to. Wherever he went, he left that place—and the people there—better than he found it. That adds up to something pretty profound. And I can’t think of a greater tribute to a life well-lived.

Thank you.