On August 5, 2022, at Midcoast Hospital in Brunswick, ME, John H. Jackson, of Bath, ME, passed into a gorgeous sunset. John was born in North Walpole, NH to John H. and Margaret (Rumley) Jackson on March 3, 1926.

In 1943, at age 17, John enlisted in the U.S. Navy during WWII. He served on a destroyer, the USS Eisner DE 192, in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. John was a gunner’s mate assigned to the depth charge crew. He saw VE Day in Liverpool, England, and VJ Day in the Pacific.  

In 1950, John married the love of his life, Beryl Willard. They had four children, Carol (Peter Fischer); Gail; Bruce (Lyn); and John (Carolyn) all of Maine. John also leaves behind four grandchildren, Nathan (Fallon); Matthew; Meaghan (Luke); and Katie (fiance, Curtis); and three great-grandchildren; Liam; Emma; and Connor.

After the war, John began working for the railroad as a coal shoveling fireman on steam locomotives. John spent most of his career as a locomotive engineer for the Boston & Maine Railroad and later for Amtrak. Both John and Beryl retired from their jobs in 1985 and spent the next 27+ years as “snowbirds” between their homes in West Springfield, MA, and Cypress Bend in Estero, FL where they made many friends. Their final move came in 2012, when they moved to Bath, ME, to be closer to their children. Beryl predeceased John in 2017.

In Mass., John was active in the Elks of West Springfield. In Maine, he was active at the Bath Senior Center. For three years, John and his daughter-in-law, Lyn won the Annual Double’s Cribbage Award, winning a trophy of which he was very proud. He and Beryl were members of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Bath.

In 2019, John was honored to attend Honor Flight Maine to Washington, DC. On that trip, veterans from several conflicts were flown to DC, then chauffeured around the Capitol in an entourage to many War Memorials and Monuments. It was an experience which he would never forget.  

John’s family wishes to thank the doctors, nurses and others at Mid Coast Hospital who took excellent care of him while he was a patient and for their concern for John’s family during this process. We also want to thank the Staff at Bodwell Rehabilitation in Brunswick for the care he received while there.  

There will be visitation time on the morning of September 27, 2022, at Fenton and Hennessey Funeral Home in Bellows Falls, VT at 9:00 AM. Following visitation time, John’s memorial service will be held at St. Peter’s Church in North Walpole, NH at 11:00 AM with internment at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Drewsville, NH. There will be a gathering with refreshments in the church Community Hall following the internment.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation for Veterans. Bob Woodruff Foundation, 1350 Broadway, Suite 905, New York, NY 10018 or [email protected].