John “Jack” Thomas Poirier cut the dashing figure of a gentleman soldier; his was a life “filled with academics, valor, adventure and love,” according to a notice in the Colorado Springs Gazette. A 1955 graduate of West Point, Poirier earned the Bronze Star for Valor and the Distinguished Flying Cross, among other medals, while serving as a pilot and forward air controller in Vietnam. His assignments as military attaché took him to Venezuela, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica. He was a professor and the first judo coach at the United States Air Force Academy.

Poirier had a flair for entertainment, and with his wife, Alma de Miranda, threw fabulous, all-night parties every 4th of July, Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day. Fluent in Spanish and German, he held a master’s in political science from Harvard; he was constantly devouring works of fiction, poetry and history. An entry in his online condolence book reads, "Whoever met Jack in their lifetime would always love him right away, hands down."