Victor Lee Jackson

Victor (Vic) was born on a tenant farm near Sulphur, Oklahoma on April 20, 1935, and spent his early years helping tend to the farm and exploring the fields and creeks with his uncles and aunt who were like siblings. When the family moved to Bristow, then Edmond, OK, Vic excelled in school, especially in leadership and debate, earning national championships in speaking in high school and graduating as Salutatorian from Edmond High School in 1953.

After two years of attending the University of Oklahoma, Vic accepted a position as a research assistant for Senator Robert S. Kerr in Washington, DC where he met his future wife, Elizabeth. Vic earned his bachelor’s in administrative organization from American University ultimately returning to Oklahoma with his wife and baby. Vic and Liz welcomed another child and eventually settled in Norman where they raised their two children and resided for the rest of their lives.

Vic's desire to help others to further themselves led him to continue his education at the University of Oklahoma where he earned a master’s in social psychology in 1968. Vic then pursued a long and varied career in adult education and leadership working for OU as a trainer, becoming Director of Leadership Training for the Oklahoma Southwest Human Relations Center and then Director of Training for the SW Region Multi-Purpose Training Center (both OU organizations), and later as a private consultant for federal, state, and local government agencies including many tribes.

Vic Jackson has been referred to as "one of Oklahoma's great adult educators," and was recognized in 2009 as the longest-serving workshop instructor for the Human Resources Development Division in the Oklahoma State Personnel Department.

Vic wanted the world to know that Elizabeth contributed her expertise in the home and also as a professional working as an editor of training materials and education specialist for FAA for many years. Vic recognized and applauded the accomplishments of women in the family and society.

A devoted son, husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Vic enjoyed family time the most. He will be remembered for his love of travel, jazz, camping with late-night poker marathons, chess with his great-grandson, Scrabble, crossword and jigsaw puzzles, puns, OU game-day parking, ordering tom yum soup from his favorite restaurant, Dr. Pepper, watching classic movies, and prowess at ping-pong. While he rarely let on, Vic secretly cherished a menagerie of rescue pets that resided with the family and he had fond memories of a boyhood dachshund-mix named Ike who ran around in circles so fast that he would fall over.

Vic and Liz also opened their hearts and doors to children in need, fostering two teens and making certain they felt a sense of belonging. Besides family, Vic nurtured many friendships with people from diverse backgrounds, countries, and cultures and never forgot those closest to him.

Vic was preceded in death by his mother, Enid (Renois) Jackson, his father, Joseph (Joe) Jackson, and his beloved wife of 63 years, Elizabeth Grace (Connally) Jackson. Vic is survived by his daughter, Monya Jackson (husband Stephen Nielsen), his son, Adam Jackson (wife Jessica), his granddaughter Thisbe McWilliams (husband Mark), granddaughter Molly Jackson-Nielsen, and three great-grandchildren, Oceano, Indigo, and Mako, and his aunt, Helen Jackson, as well as many cousins. Vic's family wishes to thank the extraordinary staff at Grace Skilled Nursing and Norman Regional Hospital for their care, and Vic's private caregiver and her two children.

The family requests that any memorial donations be sent to the Enid L. Jackson Endowed Graduate Scholarship at UCO or Second Chance Animal Rescue in Norman.