I’m a fan of funerals. I know that sounds weird, but I was reminded while attending fellow Noon Lion and longtime Daily Courier columnist Jerry Jackson’s service last weekend how much you can learn about the someone’s life by showing up to one.
Seems a lot of folks don’t bother having them anymore, and sometimes there’s not even an obituary, which can lead to awkward moments at the grocery store when you bump into someone you know and ask how their husband is doing, only to find out they passed away months ago.
When I walked in to the service, I was glad to see that the middle section of the United Methodist church was filled with row after row of people in yellow vests from the local Lions clubs. The memorabilia table in the entryway had copies of one of his columns to take home. A yearbook from his military service had a big arrow pointing to a smiling young man in uniform. A photo collage, titled “Our Friend Slats,” showed lots of friends and family having what looked to be a whole lot of fun.
Jerry is easy to spot as the tallest person in every picture and someone typed the word “Hunk!” over what must have been his high school graduation photo. His Lions vest was displayed, covered in commemorative pins and awards, with a big badge, which said “Publicity Director” below his name.
I remember when my folks moved here in the early 2000s, they would mention some of his funnier columns to me. They probably even mailed me a few of them to read. I heard Jerry’s name mentioned on numerous occasions when Dad joined the Noon Lions and started telling me stories about paper recycling projects and pancake breakfasts.
I finally met Jerry in person when I was a guest speaker at one of their meetings. Afterward, Jerry came up to me, shook my hand and told me he really enjoyed reading my column. His favorite one, he said, was a piece I had written in 2021 about how much I appreciated my dad. He had a good dad too, and he appreciated that I took the time to share that.
A few weeks later, my dad handed me a manila envelope from Jerry with a copy of that column with the words: “In a word: Wonderful!!!” written across the top, a lovely typed note, along with a copy of one of his columns, a beautiful piece he wrote about his own father, plus a collection of his dad’s poems from the World War II era. There was also a photocopied page with an assortment of Far Side cartoons on it. (I learned during the funeral he was a big fan of sending these to people.)
I received a few more packets of goodies by way of my dad for other columns I wrote, and when I joined the Noon Lions last year, I would see Jerry at the meetings, looking ever frailer, but still always smiling and full of kind things to say to me.
What I learned about Jerry at his funeral was just a tiny snippet of who he was to the many people who knew and loved him through his 91 years. His granddaughter, Emma, brought tears to our eyes with her recollections of a wonderful grandfather, and a fellow Lion made us laugh when his phone rang in the middle of his eulogy and he commented it was probably Jerry telling him to wrap it up. I heard stories about his many years as journalist, his talent for writing hilarious alliterations, including one about a previous publisher for the newspaper.
But besides the good stories and funny recollections, it was clear he was a man who spent his 91 years working hard to make the world a better, happier, more positive place for the people he knew and loved.
In a word: Wonderful.