Born on July 29, 1940, in Rakvere, Estonia, Jaak was the son of Voldemar and Paula Aulik. In 1944, his family fled Estonia. Then, in 1949, at the age of nine, under the sponsorship of the Lutheran church, Jaak and his family were welcomed to Holdrege, Nebraska. He graduated as Valedictorian from Holdrege High School and later earned a degree in physics from Nebraska Wesleyan University. In 1965, driven by a desire to give back to his adopted country, he enlisted in the Marines. Jaak was soon sent to Officer Training School at Quantico, where he graduated as Honor Guard and had the honor of escorting at the Cherry Blossom Festival. He served 13 months in combat in Vietnam.

Following his honorable discharge, in 1969, Jaak accepted an engineering position with AT&T in San Francisco. This led to various positions with AT&T across different U.S. cities. His favorite role was negotiating financial agreements between AT&T and other countries to settle payments for telephone traffic. AT&T also sponsored him for a fully-paid assignment at Harvard University, where he wrote and published a book titled “Financial Structures in Competitive Telecommunications”.

BIn 1985, he met the love of his life, Bonne, and they married soon after. They lived in Morris Plains, NJ, before moving to a rural home in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in 2007. Jaak and Bonne shared a loving life together and made friends around the world. Jaak’s presence was a blessing to many, and he will be dearly missed. Known for his generosity, he often picked up the check during meals or offered encouraging words to those he met.

Jaak is survived by his wife Bonne; her children, David Luck and Melody Serra; his sister, Tiina Aulik-Adams, and many nieces, nephews, and grand children.