Robert R. Jackson was born on September 22, 1932, in Sparrows Point, Baltimore County, Maryland, the younger of two brothers, from the union of his creative parents the late George R. Jackson and Alverta Harris Jackson.
Following the death of his mother, at age 8, Bob and his late brother Donald R. Jackson moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to live with their Aunt Cornelia M. Jackson (their father's sister) and her husband Stanley.
Bob was educated in the Philadelphia Public School System. He attended Edward W. Bok Technical High School and studied academics and art. He graduated with a full scholarship to the Philadelphia Industrial School of Art, now the University of the Arts. While in college he studied commercial advertising. He graduated first in his class and was named valedictorian.
In 1954, he was drafted into the Army and stationed in Fort Bliss, Texas. He was assigned several jobs including prep cook and sign painter. After his honorable discharge in 1956, he returned to Philadelphia and took a job offer with Smith Kline and French Pharmaceuticals where he honed his drafting skills as a medical illustrator. He continued to work for and secure contacts with a number prominent firms in Philadelphia, New York, and Washington DC.
In 1957, he married and later welcomed his three children Dean D. Jackson, Margo D. Jackson, and Michael J. Jackson. In 1975, Bob married again, to his devoted wife Phyllis Ryan Jackson and they lived a full and happy life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Haddonfield, New Jersey.
Bob was a brilliant artist whose career and life's work spanned decades. He excelled at several art mediums from drawing and painting to printmaking and mixed media. He was a self-proclaimed trash picker who often turned discarded junk into art. He was a published author and illustrator with various books and magazines to his credit. His work was featured in an array of gallery shows, professional exhibitions, museums, and his own one-man-shows.
He lectured and mentored workshop students of all ages and mediums at the Plastic Club and the Sketch Club, some of Philadelphia’s oldest artist organizations, where he also served as President. He used his woodworking and building skills to install exhibitions and renovate the galleries. The Bob Jackson Gallery, located at the Plastic Club, will continue to honor his work and legacy.
He volunteered for years at the Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness where his wife was the Executive Director. He helped to organize the annual Art Auction, a benefit to end homelessness. He was fondly known as “Mr. Bob'' by the countless men who came for clothing, from the clothing room that he proudly oversaw. He also prepared and served grand holiday meals.
Bob was a food connoisseur with a well-developed palate. He enjoyed cooking for family and friends and often hosted parties and cookouts at his home. He traveled extensively throughout his life both stateside and abroad, including over a dozen trips to Ireland with his travel buddies and wife.
Bob rarely took pride in his accolades and honors but instead held close to his heart his friends and peers and their opinions of him. He was a kind and loving husband, father, grandfather, and a friend to many.
Those left to cherish his memory are: his devoted wife Phyllis Ryan Jackson; three children Dean, Margo, and Michael Jackson; daughters-in-law Charna Jackson and Leslie Simone Jackson; son-in-law Darrell Gates; granddaughters Adrianne, Layla, Zoe and Jada Jackson, Ninah Hanna; grandsons Jordan and Jaden Wallace; great grandson Polidore D. Jackson; aunt Wilhelmina Harris; first cousin Reginald Harris; niece and nephew Donna and Mark Jackson and a host of other relatives and friends.
Partager l'avis de décès
v.1.8.18