Jack Westwood was born in Covington, Kentucky on March 6, 1944 to John R. and Virginia Westwood.

He grew up in a family of seven in Elsmere and Florence, Ky. He got his first real job at 14 working as an usher and janitor at the Gayety Theater in Elsmere. Later he worked the fountain at the Erlanger Frisch’s restaurant. While still in high school he wrote feature articles for the Dixie News.

Jack married Maggie Rassenfoss on December 30, 1965. Maggie died of cancer in 1973. He later married Kelley Martin on August 2, 1975. They currently live in Crescent Springs, Kentucky.

They have four children: Matthew, Elizabeth Hickerson, Michael, and Kendra Martin as well as seven grandchildren: Chelsea, Kayley, Magdalen, and Elijah Westwood, and Agatha, Ginger and Milo Hickerson.

Jack is a lifelong resident of Northern Kentucky. He graduated from Erlanger Lloyd High School in 1962. He then attended and graduated from The University of Kentucky in 1966 with a B.A. in English. He later earned his M. Ed. from Northern Kentucky University in 1980.

Jack taught English and Journalism at Lloyd High School from 1966-1993. Additionally, he taught at Orchard Street Christian School while serving in the Kentucky State Senate.

Jack is a member and elder of Lakeside Christian Church, where he teaches Adult Sunday School, and he is a past president of the Covington Optimists Club. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of New Hope Pregnancy Care Center in Edgewood where he has served as Chairman and is currently serving as Vice-chairman, and he is a member of the Board of Directors for Mercy Maternity Home.

Jack served as an Erlanger-Elsmere School Board member for approximately one year until he made the decision to run for the Kentucky State Senate. He was elected in 1996, and was re-elected in 2000 and 2004.

In the Senate, Jack is a member of five standing committees: Appropriations & Revenue, Education, Economic Development & Tourism, Judiciary and Seniors, Veterans Affairs & Public Protection. Additionally, he is Senate Chairman of the Budget Review Subcommittee on Governance, Senate Chairman of the Educational Accountability and Assessment Review Subcommittee, Co-chairman of the Capital Planning Advisory Board, and is a member of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Advisory Board. He has also served on numerous task forces and study groups including the Developmental Education Task Force, the Southern Regional Education Board’s Adolescent Literacy Task Force, and the Civic Literacy Task Force.