Gordon Keith Jackson

Gordon Keith (Gock) Jackson, ninety-six years, nine months and twenty days old, of Redlands, California died peacefully at home on Thursday, August 11, 2016.

Gordon was born at home on October 22, 1919 on a large farm near Macon, Mississippi. He was the son of Seaborn Andrew Jackson and Sabie Minerva Jackson, also from Noxubee County, and the great-, great-, great grandson of President Andrew Jackson.

One of seven children, he grew up working on the farm, picking cotton and corn, milking cows, smoking meat, making molasses and running a fruit stand. As a teenager he broke horses and trained hunting dogs for his side business leading Eastern gentlemen on hunting trips in the woods. At fourteen he started driving a gravel truck, and during high school he drove the school bus full of his classmates.

After graduating, he ran the butter room at Borden and Southern Creamery. When the company moved in 1939 Gordon and three buddies traveled to New Orleans to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.

Gordon entered the service on April Fool’s Day, 1939. He completed Basic Training near San Diego and started Parachute School in Lakehurst, New Jersey. Called to active duty before completion, he shipped out to the Solomon Islands as a paratrooper scout. He served with the Second Parachute Battalion in New Zealand and on Bougainville, New Caledonia, Choiseul, Vella Lavella and Guadalcanal. Sergeant Jackson was privileged to be rescued from shore under enemy fire by PT-109, under the command of John F. Kennedy. Gordon later remarked, “Kennedy was one brave S.O.B., I’ll give him that!” He was discharged on July 25, 1944 and went to work at the shipyard mounting big guns on the ships still headed back to combat.

He met the love of his life on a blind date. After a reasonable courtship, he wed Janet Viola Dieken in Hollywood on July 20, 1946. They settled in Los Angeles, later moving to Long Beach, California. Gordon lived to celebrate seventy years of marriage to Janet.

After attending Long Beach City College Gordon did accounting for Curlett Construction Company.

The couple adopted their only child in 1950 and named her Christine Ann. He was a playful and affectionate daddy who taught his daughter many useful skills and strong values.

Later, in an interview, Gordon told his prospective boss, “I’ll never lie to you.” He worked as head of accounting and later as general manager for Don Wilson Builders in Torrance. Great thanks to Don Wilson and his secretary, Dodie Cathey, for their lifelong friendship. After thirty-one years at the firm he retired in 1984.

In 1997, Janet and Gordon moved from their home of fifty years in Bixby Knolls to Redlands to enjoy watching their granddaughters grow.

Gordon was always an avid hunter and fisherman and later turned to raising fruits and vegetables. Storytelling was a lifelong pleasure, and often he was the hero of his own life. Generously giving his time and energy, Gordon always helped friends and neighbors. Of course he might have pulled a practical joke or two also. Over his lifetime, Gordon also donated over five gallons of blood to the Red Cross. He and Janet enjoyed extensive trips throughout the United States in their RV and also traveled abroad many times.

Always a churchgoer, Gordon most recently attended the First Presbyterian Church of Redlands. He was a fifty-year member of the Bixby Knolls Masonic Lodge #699 (now Long Beach Lodge #327) and became a Master Mason in 1963. Gordon belonged to the Association of Survivors World War II Parachute Units United States Marine Corps.

Gordon is survived by his wife, Janet Dieken Jackson, his daughter, Christine Ann Jackson (Donn Dimichele), his grandchildren Carlen Elise Dimichele and Holly Lauren Dimichele, his cousin, Otie Jackson, Jr., nieces, nephews and their offspring. He is predeceased by his parents and his siblings, Sonora Dan Rogers, Thames Jackson, Mabel Jackson, Francis Jackson, Gladys Carolyn Jackson and Lloyd Jackson.

His memorial service will be held on Tuesday, the 30th of August at two p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Redlands, 100 Cajon Street, Redlands, California 92373. A reception will follow at Knox Hall. He will be interred at Montecito Memorial Park at 3520 East Washington Street in Colton, California, 92324. For information call (909) 825-3024.

Gordon would want to thank his wife, Janet, for all the years of love, care and kindness, his daughter and granddaughters for bringing him joy, and his friends for listening to his stories. In his last years the loving people who made his life meaningful as well as comfortable were his caregivers: Tim McCall, Shandra Waller, Oliva Godoy, Tanya Forsyth and Christina Martinez.

If you want to honor Gordon’s memory, please give blood, donate to your favorite charity or help someone in need. Honesty, hard work, kindness, generosity and humor make a life well-lived.