Peters Township Library Director Pier Lee would have been happy with $200,000.

But with the respected, dogged Howard Jack leading the effort about a decade ago, a fund-raising campaign for new library furniture brought in more than $400,000.

School superintendents come and go, and some have a bigger impact on the community than others. Admirers said Dr. Jack, 85, a former Peters Township School District superintendent who died Wednesday, stayed longer and accomplished more than most.

"His contribution cannot be measured, I think," Ms. Lee said.

While Dr. Jack often took the lead on big projects, he was just as happy minding details behind the scenes, said L. Rus Howard, pastor of Peters Creek Presbyterian Church, where Dr. Jack was a leading member for 40 years.

He did it all with a "servant's heart," never for selfish reasons, Dr. Howard said.

Dr. Jack was born March 3, 1923, in West Mifflin, on property that became part of the Allegheny County Airport. He was a son of Frank and Hazel Forsythe Jack, who later moved the family to Bethel Park.

Dr. Jack graduated from Bethel Park High School in 1941 and enrolled at Washington and Jefferson College, but left to enlist in the Army during World War II. He served as a communications specialist in the Pacific before returning to W&J and completing his bachelor's degree.

He received a master's degree and doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh and began his career as a teacher at East Washington High School in Washington County. He held administrative posts in the Hampton Township and West Jefferson Hills districts before becoming Peters Township superintendent in 1965.

There, he faced an early test of leadership when a contractor foundered during construction of a new high school. Then-solicitor Reed Day said he and his former chemistry teacher, Dr. Jack, put the workers on the school payroll to keep the project rolling.

In 1965, Peters Township was still a rural district with fewer than 2,000 students -- so small, the state wanted to force it into a merger. Mr. Day said he and Dr. Jack persuaded state officials to leave the district, which was soon to experience a growth spurt, intact.

Dr. Jack and his wife, Mary Eleanor Cooper, married in 1952 and raised three daughters in Peters Township.

After retiring in 1983, Dr. Jack became a full-time community champion, active in the library, Peters Township Chamber of Commerce, Washington County Community Foundation and the United Way of Washington County, among other organizations.

Hands down, he was the perennial top-seller of tickets to the McMurray Rotary's spaghetti dinners. He was involved, too, in a task force formed by the Washington County commissioners to study the feasibility of starting a community college.

Mrs. Jack died in 2003, and he moved to Washington, Pa., about four years ago. He remained active in his church and other organizations until he fell and injured a hip in February.

"His days were booked," Dr. Howard said.

Surviving are three daughters, Kathy Dinger of Summerville, Jefferson County, Marianne Deptola of Crestwood, Ky., and Carol Bryant of Warsaw, Va; a sister, Lois Engle of Upper St. Clair; and eight grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. next Friday at Peters Creek Church, 250 Brookwood Road, Venetia, Peters.