Maryknoll Father James A. Jackson served islands for 45 years
Maryknoll Father James A. Jackson, who served on the Big Island and Oahu for 45 of his 56 years as a priest, died March 16 at St. Teresa’s Residence in Ossining, N. Y. where he retired in 1997. He was 86.
His funeral was celebrated on March 22. He is buried in Maryknoll Cemetery in Ossining.
Born in Minneapolis, Minn., on April 16, 1918, Father Jackson joined Maryknoll in 1939, the year after he graduated from high school, and attended Maryknoll College in Clarks Summit, Penn., and then Maryknoll Seminary in Ossining.
He was ordained in 1948.
His first assignment was Hawaii where he would spend nearly his entire missionary career. After three years service at Sacred Heart Parish, Punahou, Father Jackson went to Tokyo to study the Japanese culture and language.
He returned to Hawaii, serving in two parishes before taking a sabbatical year in 1967 to study at the University of San Francisco. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies at the University of Hawaii-Hilo in 1974.
His interest in education continued with additional studies at Columbia Teachers College in New York and Oxford University in London where he studied Scripture.
Among the other parishes he served in Hawaii were St. Anthony, Papaaloa, St. Anthony, Kailua, and Sacred Heart, Naalehu. He was also campus ministry from 1968 to 1978 at the University of Hawaii in Hilo.
While in Hilo, Father Jackson was active in challenging the Vietnam War and supporting the civil rights and workers rights movements of Rev. Martin Luther King and Caesar Chavez. He also served as a representative of Maryknoll’s Hawaii Region on the Asian-Pacific Peace and Justice Committee and in 1989 was appointed to a three-year term as assistant to Maryknoll’s Hawaii Regional Superior.
When he turned 75, Father Jackson moved to the Maryknoll Residence in Los Altos, Calif., and did pastoral work with senior citizens before taking up residence at St. Teresa’s.
Memorial donations may be made in Father Jackson’s name to the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, P.O. Box 302, Maryknoll, N.Y. 10545.