HERBERT RAY JACKSON
HERBERT RAY JACKSON
Herbert Ray Jackson, son of Millard and Alice Jackson, was born January 6, 1929 on the farm near Kellerton, Iowa. Herb lived a rich and full life.
Herb graduated from Kellerton high school in 1947. He married his sweetheart, Vivian, on January 20, 1950 in Maryville, Missouri. They established their home on a farm near Kellerton and raised six children. During his many years of farming, he, along with his wife Vivian, commented the ‘best crop we ever raised was our six kids.’ He enjoyed watching them grow into what they would become as well as the grandchildren and great-grandchildren to follow enriching his later years.
Later in life Herb went back to school and graduated from Southwestern Community College in Creston with an AA in 1988. Herb sold life insurance for New York Life and was a Pony Express courier until retiring in 1998. He was a creator and a planner. He loved to design and build things. His woodworking projects ranged from frames, cabinetry, the small barn he designed and built, to the home deck he designed that resulted in many hours of deck living that he and his family enjoyed. It satisfied him to ‘putter’ in the garage and to repurpose the old and discarded into something useful and often beautiful. The planner in him enjoyed computers from accounting, to chronicling his family and daily happenings in photographs, to card games like cribbage or free cell. If it was possible to record life’s milestones on a spreadsheet, he surely tried. He liked to make goals and achieve them. He loved to garden, whether it was transplanting his mother’s irises or roses from the farm to new flowers, plants and vegetables every year. His family and neighbors enjoyed the fruits and beauty of his labors. He enjoyed taking care of his yard and often went out to ‘walk the ranch.’
Herb and Vivian moved to Tingley in 1988 and since 1995 have made Pleasant Hill their home. Herb liked to say he was a ‘tough old bird’ and through various accidents and illnesses over the years, it was not unusual for him to walk eight to 10 miles a day. He enjoyed walking the neighborhood and spent many pleasurable hours walking the trail near his home. He walked with a cane, even when not needed, to knock the walnuts and sticks off the trail to help those riding bicycles or, jokingly, to fend off cougars. His trail maintenance will be missed. He made many trail friends, often with canine companions, which he knew by name. He had a lifelong love of dogs and most of them loved him back. Herb’s trail on this earth may be over, but where one trail ends, another begins. As the song says, ‘Happy trails to you till we meet again.’
Herb passed away on January 11, 2013 at the Taylor House Hospice Home in Des Moines after a courageous battle with cancer. He was preceded in death by his parents; daughter, Shirley Rae Jackson on July 27, 2005; brother, Dean Jackson, and sister, Ruth Turner.
Those left to cherish his memory include his wife, Vivian of Pleasant Hill, Iowa; children, Nancy Brechler and husband Rick of Le Mars, Iowa, Dan Jackson and wife Hope of Kellerton, Iowa, Doug Jackson and wife Candi of Winterset, Iowa, LuAnn Jackson of Mount Ayr, Iowa and Julie Sonksen and husband Andrew of Fort Dodge, Iowa; 11 grandchildren, Michael Brechler, Sam Sonksen, Stan (Katie) Stout, Matt (Casey) Stout, Jennifer (Tim) Creveling, Sara (Jesse) Anthony, Kim Brechler, Amelia Jackson, Katherine Jackson, Abbie (Joseph) Williams and Sara (Adam) Shaull; great-grandchildren, EmmaLeigh and Easton Creveling, Josiah and Theodore Shaull, Desmond and Kordell Shaull and Katelyn and Joslyn Stout; nieces; nephews; cousins; other relatives, and friends.
Services were conducted on Tuesday, January 15, 2013, at the Watson-Armstrong Funeral Home in Mount Ayr with Pastor John Shaull officiating. Musicians were Sandy Campbell and Richard Jackson.
Casket bearers were Michael Brechler, Sam Sonksen, Tim Creveling, Jesse Anthony, Stan Stout, Matt Stout, Adam Shaull and Joseph Williams.
Honorary pallbearers were Jennifer Creveling, Sara Anthony, Kim Brechler, Amelia Jackson, Katherine Jackson, Abbie Williams, Sara Shaull, Casey Stout and Katie Stout.
Honorary junior pallbearers were Easton and EmmaLeigh Creveling, Josiah and Theodore Shaull, Desmond and Kordell Shaull and Katelyn and Joslyn Stout.
Burial was in the Maple Row Cemetery in Kellerton. Memorials are in his name to be decided later.
