William Alston Jackson

William Alston Jackson, of Jacksonville, Florida passed away at the age of 70, on November 29, 2014 in Jacksonville Florida. He was born on April 8, 1944 in Jacksonville, Florida to William Roy Jackson Jr. and Ruby-John Kennedy Jackson. Both his father and his mother preceded him in death. He is survived by his high school sweetheart, Beverly Baker Jackson, they were married in August of 1966. He is also survived by his twin brother Walt H. Jackson, (Jeannie Jackson) and his children William Scott Jackson (Jennifer Davis Jackson) and Jennifer Jackson Brown (Jason Brown) and his exquisite granddaughters, Elizabeth Ossi, Madison Jackson, Katherine Ossi and Grace Brown. He is also survived by the most loving and amazing friends. Bill was an All-City football player at Nathan B. Forrest High school where he graduated in 1962. He was voted Most Valuable Player and Outstanding Senior. He received a football scholarship to Arkansas State College which he attended for one year before transferring to Florida State University where he was a member of Lambdsa Chi Alpha and graduated in 1967 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He then obtained a Masters in Educational Leadership at The University of North Florida in 1976. Bill chose to begin his career at his Alma Mater and accepted an Assistant Coaching position at Forrest High School. In his time at Forrest he coached tennis, track, football and was ultimately the Athletic Director. He then became an administrator at Fletcher Senior High School, Darnell Cookman, Paxon Senior High and then Principal at Terry Parker High School. His next move was to become the Budget Director of the Duval County School System and at the time of his retirement in 1998 he was the Assistant Director of Finance. His retirement was devoted to caring for his grandchildren and mentoring students at Greenland Pines, Bayview and Chets Creek Elementary schools as well as keeping Barnes and Noble in business. In addition he was a devoted caretaker to his mother. He loved to spend time in his garden with a glass of wine and his dog. He was the personal taxi service to his granddaughters. He loved going to see the Noles with his best friends. And is his words “prego”. A visitation will be held on Wednesday December 3 from 6:00 to 8:00 at Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home of Mandarin. A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, December 4 at 11:00 am at Mandarin Presbyterian Church 12002 Mandarin Road. Arrangements are under the care and direction of Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home of Mandarin, 11801 San Jose Blvd. Jacksonville, FL 32223. www.hgmandarin.com (904) 288-0025.