Jack was born on 7 March 1913 and was the second of seven children born to Shmuel (Israel Samuel) Katz and Bertha (Levy) Katz in Witbank. Shmuel was from Kovno and Bertha from ??, they were married in 1909. Jack lost his father or mother at a young age and used his considerable talents as a violin player to earn money and support his family. Jack married Zara Gabriel Wulfsohn in 19??. Her family came to South Africa from?? Jack and Zara first lived in Potchefstroom (?) and then moved to Vryburg in 194?. Jack was one of the three senior managers who had equity in Solomon Stores. Jack and Zara had three sons, Bram, Michael and Samuel. Sam was born in in Vryburg. The family left for Pretoria in 1973. Jack was chairman of the Vryburg Hebrew Congregation.