Carroll 'Tom' N. Jackson Jr.

COLEBROOK – Carroll N. Jackson, Jr., 91, of Colebrook, died on Friday, April 12, 2024, at the Coos County Nursing Hospital in W. Stewartstown. He was born in Colebrook on April 15, 1932, the third of thirteen children, to the late Carroll and Pauline (Mason) Jackson, Sr. He was known most of his life as ‘Tom’ because his mother didn’t want him called “Junior.” He attended elementary schools in Columbia, Colebrook, and West Stewartstown before graduating from Canaan Memorial High School in 1950. On July 7, 1950, Tom enlisted in the U.S. Army and headed for training at Fort Dix, NJ. He volunteered for duty in the Far East, where he served 15 months as a dispatcher in the Camp Tokyo Engineer Equipment Motor Pool. He then requested re-assignment to Korea and was attached to the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division, as a company clerk. He returned from Korea in 1953 and was sent to the Quartermaster School at Fort Lee, VA. His last year of service was as Personnel Sergeant at the QM Research & Development Command in Natick MA. He was honorably discharged on May 24, 1956. Tom attended the University of New Hampshire studying Business Administration. During his sophomore year, on February 28, 1958, he married the love of his life, Janice Fearon, at the (then) Grace United Methodist Church in Canaan. The couple moved back to Durham where they lived until Tom graduated from UNH in 1960. He then attended Cornell University where he received a Master’s Degree in Industrial & Labor Relations in 1962. After college, Tom & Jan moved to the Boston area where he began his career at Rust Craft Greeting Cards as Manager of Industrial Relations. He subsequently held positions at Sylvania Electronics and Pickard & Burns, the Town of Wellesley, Mass., and finally, Boston Edison (now Eversource) from which he retired in 1987. Tom was an active member of the Carter Memorial Methodist Church in Needham, Mass., serving on several committees. He became a Freemason in 1976 and served as Master of the Nehoiden Lodge, AF & AM, in 1983. While working and living in Massachusetts, he traveled to Colebrook on weekends, holidays, and summers to build (with family) a house for his parents on Reed Road, which was mostly completed in 1969. After retiring in 1987, Tom returned to Colebrook permanently and worked at a variety of local jobs including carpentry, tax accounting, Assistant Town Clerk, snowmobile trail grooming for the Canaan Border Riders, and greeting visitors at the Colebrook Welcome Center. He enjoyed volunteering at the Moose Festival, Sugar-On-Snow, church suppers, and at the Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital for over 7 years. He served on the Library Board of Trustees and was a member of Kiwanis, and the Monadnock Congregational Church. In 1988 he purchased his Honda Gold Wing motorcycle, giving rides to anyone who dared, and taking trips all over the country with his buddies. He taught himself to play musical instruments, loving weekly jam sessions with friends. He taught himself downhill skiing and snowboarding at age 70, learning how to fall effectively without serious injury. He loved traveling to visit his grandchildren, attending their concerts, plays graduations, and aiding in their development. He was an avid reader, enjoying books about history, Native Americans, westerns, biographies, spy novels, and poetry. He loved hosting family and friends at their cottage on Lake Averill and always looked forward to annual Jackson Family reunions where he could sing & play guitar with his brother and nephews. Tom was an unshakeable optimist, never believing in the word impossible, and in 2001 he began building a post & beam barn at the site of the house he built in Colebrook. He insisted on building it by himself, the old-school way, starting with squaring logs by hand using only an ax. He is survived by three children, Shellie Bresnahan of Canaan, Vt., Linda (David) Hutchinson of Honeoye Falls, N.Y., and Scott (Diane) Jackson of Gig Harbor, Wash.; siblings, Joanne Carlson of South Portland, Me., Jeanine Fitzpatrick of Brunswick, Me., Helen (Samuel) Curtis of Weslaco, Tex., Shirley Jackson of Scarborough, Me., and Theodore (Denise) Jackson of Glen Dale, Maryland; three granddaughters and numerous nieces and nephews. Tom also has four surviving sisters-in-law, Carol, Lucille, Connie, and Laurie Jackson. He will be missed for his positive, generous nature and good humor. He is predeceased by his loving wife of 64 years, Janice, in 2022; and seven siblings, Joyce Frizzell, Richard Jackson, Robert Jackson, Paul Jackson, David Jackson, William Jackson, and Audrey Jackson. There are no public calling hours. A graveside interment service, with a Masonic ritual and military honors, will be held in the Perry Cemetery in Clarksville (off of West Road) on Saturday, June 1, 2024, at 10 a.m. Memorial donations can be made in Tom’s name to the Monadnock Congregational Church, 147 Main St., Colebrook, NH 03576; the Grace Community Church, Gale St., in Canaan, VT 05903; the Canaan Historical Society, or to the Colebrook Area Food Pantry. Condolences may be offered online by going to www.jenkinsnewman.com. Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Jenkins & Newman Funeral Home in Colebrook.

Carroll 'Tom' N. Jackson Jr.

April 15, 1932 - April 12, 2024