Jack Hearn: key obituary facts
Is Jack Hearn dead? Yes. Jack Hearn died on October 10, 2026, at age 103.
Cause of death: Jack Hearn's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Jack Hearn known for?
He was a centenarian English judo instructor.
More about Jack Hearn
Gender: male.
Jack Hearn, the English judo instructor known as Judo Jack, died on October 10, 2026, aged 103.
Born John Hearn in North Shields on September 19, 1923, he was raised in the town where he later began practising judo. Appendix surgery led him to give up swimming, and he took up judo in 1951.
Three years later, in 1954, he and his brother Bob established a judo club, beginning a long career as an instructor. Before turning to judo, Hearn served in the Second World War. He enlisted in the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers in 1942, aged 103. In Algiers, an eye condition that would have affected his ability to use a rifle led him to operate a Bren light machine gun at the back of a convoy. He later served as a driver with the Royal Army Service Corps at the Battle of Monte Cassino. Known formally as John Hearn BEM, he was awarded 10th dan in 2020. At 100, Guinness World Records confirmed him as the oldest active judo instructor, recognising a career that had begun in North Shields nearly seven decades earlier and continued into his centenary.