Jack of Diamonds? Well, maybe.

Jack of All Trades? Perhaps.

Cracker Jack? Nah.

Or … You could call him Sarge. Or Coach. Or Principal. He’s certainly been all of that.

I’ll wager the sweetest name of all to him is what his children, and his grandchildren, choose to call him.

Me, I call him friend.

And yesterday was his 90th birthday. Jack Wallace is 90! Can you believe it?

Now, it was just a few short years ago that I wrote a column about Jack. I tried to touch a bit on the varied aspects of his life. A life well lived, I might add.

Jack was a very good athlete. One of the best. He is the last — or maybe one of a single-digit number of players, if any — who had a season batting average over .400 for East Carolina. He should be in the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. No question.

His record of service in the Army during the Korean War is exemplary. He has the medals and ribbons as tangible testaments to his valor.

Jack was a good teacher at Bath and a very successful coach. In those days, at a small county school, coaches carried a heavy load. He did it with class, and garnered a lot of championships. He could, and did, coach just about everything. For years.

As principal of a school he loved, in a town and surrounding region he loved, Jack was the “man.” Pure and simple. And he served his school, his students and his staff with genuine leadership for a long, long time.

I knew of Jack before I really came to know him. And toward the end of his coaching tenure we even competed against each other. Or, rather, our teams did, when I was at Manteo. You didn’t outcoach Jack Wallace, I can tell you that.

Now that’s all in the past. But I’ll tell you what’s not in the past. For, you see, from 2-5 p.m. today there will be an open house in the gym in the old school to acknowledge this special man’s birthday, and his many years of service to his school and community.

His wonderful wife and life partner, June, invites you to come.

I hope to see you there.