Paul Jackson was born on July 4, 1933 in an ambulance that was en route to the hospital. Back in those days, paramedics did not exist. So, when his mother Valrie Pecor Jackson give birth right there in the ambulance, it was his father Andrew Jackson who made the delivery. Paul’s father gave him the middle name of Sterling, after Ross Sterling who was the Governor of Texas from 1931 to 1933.
Paul Jackson had 2 half brothers and 2 half sisters from his father’s first marriage. He was the oldest of the 5 children who were born in his father’s second marriage. Paul had 3 brothers and 1 sister. All of his half brothers and sisters have passed on. Two of Paul’s brothers and his sister have also passed on. Paul’s youngest brother, Cullen Jaxon is the only one of the nine children of Andrew Jackson who is still alive.
Paul Jackson also survived by:
- His son, Matthew Jackson and daughter in-law Horacina Jackson;
- His daughter Sarah Jackson Panagos and son in-law Andrew Panagos;
- His six grandchildren:
• Naomi, Lydia, and Sean Jackson;
• Nathan, Michael and Zoe Panagos;
- Paul Jackson is also survived by Riley Napier who was his lifelong friend of more than 75 years. Their friendship began in September of 1938 in a Kindergarten classroom at Harvard Elementary School. Riley and his wife Carlene have four sons and their youngest son was named Paul after his best friend. Riley and Paul were also each other’s best man at their weddings.
Paul Jackson’s death by complications from pneumonia was a little sudden, but not totally unexpected. He had been in declining health for several months. I can’t think of a more vivid example of God’s compassion and mercy than how he handled his passing. He had multiple medical issues, had he survived the pneumonia, then he would have had to fight his stage 3 cancer of the esophagus. The tumor that he had was inoperable, and chemo and radiation treatments were not viable options for him. He would have gone through a lot more pain and discomfort had he continued to live. So God answered the prayers of Paul’s family and they are thankful to God for His mercy.
Paul Jackson died a Christian man. Although he attended a Southern Baptist church for a few years in his childhood and was baptized around the age of 10, it was at the age of 58 that he either rededicated or dedicated his life to the Lord.
Paul Jackson was also a strong conservative Republican. Much to the dismay and consternation of his father, Andrew Jackson who was a lifelong democrat, Paul voted republican and joined the republican party as soon as he became eligible to vote. He became a republican at a time when it was not popular to be a republican in Texas. Before the 1950s, the democratic party owned the state of Texas. However, Paul was part of the emergence of the republican party in the mid 50s when the republican Presidential Candidate, Dwight D. Eisenhower carried the state of Texas in both the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections. Although it was not until the presidential election of 1980 when the republican party finally became the dominate political party in Texas, Paul’s choice to vote Republican and join the party only proved that he was about 25 years ahead of his time. During the 80s, many of the people who voted Democrat in the 50s switched over to the republican side.
Throughout the 50s with the exception of his two year tour of duty in Korea, Paul Jackson worked for Hughes Tool. In 1962, he started a telephone answering service called, Answer All from the ground up and successfully worked that business for 13 years. After selling his answering service in 1975, he put himself through air conditioning repair school and became a licensed air conditioning repairman and worked in that industry for 12 years. After that, Paul worked as a local 4 wheel truck driver until he retired from the work force.
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