Jack Meteyer was born John Hillard in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on October 5, 1928. He was number four of six children. In 1930 he and four of his siblings were placed in an orphanage. Jack was the only one to be adopted. His adoptive parents, Oscar and Mary Meteyer, saw to it that he received love and a good education. His siblings were not as fortunate.

In 1947 Jack joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, from which he retired as a Chief Master Sergeant (E-9) after 29 years of service. He worked for the Boeing Company in Seattle from 1976 until he retired in 1991.

In 1981 Jack began researching his biological family's history. He found his oldest brother in a Bedford, Massachusetts VA Hospital - dying from Huntington's Disease. Eventually, his mother, his two brothers and a sister died of HD. Since HD is inherited, Jack resorted to being tested. The result was negative. HD does not skip generations; therefore, none of his children or future generations will be in danger of inheriting it.