Jack Rickard, local entrepreneur, dies at 65

Jack Rickard Jr., engineer and entrepreneur, died Monday morning at his home in downtown Cape Girardeau following a brief illness. He was 65 years old.

For much of his life, Rickard had an interest in electric vehicles and converting gasoline-powered vehicles to battery power.

A Cape Girardeau native and 1973 graduate of Notre Dame High School, Rickard served six years in the U.S. Navy working with computers and electronic equipment.

He applied those skills after his military service as a technical writer for several defense contracting companies, including MacDonald Aircraft and Emerson Electric Electronics and Space Division, both in St. Louis, and Martin Marietta Aerospace in Denver.

While living in Colorado, Rickard learned to fly and would frequently pilot a restored Douglas DC-3 on frequent trips to Cape Girardeau to visit his family.

In 1986, he started Boardwatch Magazine, which he described as “a guide to using computers as a communications device.” From an initial base of a few dozen subscribers, the publication eventually had a circulation of approximately 110,000.

He sold Boardwatch Magazine in 1998 and eventually returned to Cape Girardeau where he was involve in several businesses, including EVTV Motor Werks on Morgan Oak Street, where he converted cars to run on electricity and organized several electric vehicle conversion conventions .

“I believe we’re going to see a lot more of these vehicles in the future,” Rickard predicted in a 2013 article in the Southeast Missourian.

He is survived by his wife, Jill, and four children and their families.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m., with parish prayers at 7 p.m., Wednesday at Ford and Sons Sprigg Street Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau.

Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Old St. Vincent’s Catholic Church in downtown Cape Girardeau. Burial will be at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.