Jack was the author or co-author of more than 50 books and technical articles on floodproofing, wastewater management, irrigation, and freshwater resources. He was a major contributor to the writing of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 1992 rules summary on “Flood Proofing Regulations.” Jack also worked with Gilbert White and Jim Goddard along with other national experts to determine which annual recurrence interval the nation should use to map and regulate high flood risk areas. This was done at a meeting in Chicago in the late 1960s, where the 100-year-flood was finally agreed on. While we now see that climate change causing the loss of stationarity may require this standard to become higher, it was a compromise at the time.

Jack was a strong and valuable component in helping the Association of State Floodplain Managers form the National Floodproofing Committee in 1995. The committee focused on all aspects of floodproofing, and Jack’s input was invaluable to help the committee keep its focus. With his guidance and input the Committee formed a sub-committee composed of ASFPM National Floodproofing Committee, the US Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA, and the then-named US Soil Conservation Service. This began a whole new comprehensive look at floodproofing based on the collaborative information of all these agencies.

ASFPM realized that his work and those who “practiced what he preached” needed to be recognized on a more formal basis. The association established the John R. Sheaffer Award for Excellence in Floodproofing which continues to be presented each year to recognize completed work involving a particular project, work, research, design, or publication that exhibits the incorporation of accepted procedures, practices, and constraints of flood proofing, or promotes the field or knowledge of flood proofing. The recipients of this award remain pleased and proud to have their work associated with Jack.

Jack passed away on December 21, 2016 in Carol Stream, Illinois.