Vincent Courtney Jackson

Captain V.C. (Vince) Jackson. Sept 24, 1929-May 30, 2015. Vince was born in Pontypridd, Wales. His family moved when he was 3 months old to Alexandria Egypt, where his Father was stationed working for the Merchant Navy. His mother died in Egypt when he was 3 years old. At that time he returned to Wales to live with his Aunt Ciss. His Father remarried in 1939 and the family returned to Cornwall to live. At age 17years he entered the University of Southampton School of Navigation. Following University he joined the Furness Whithy Merchant Marine Company as a cadet. He sailed with this company for 20 years, working his way up through the ranks from third mate, second mate, first mate and then his Master’s (Captain) tickets. Many of these years he was sailing the route of Southampton to California and up the coast of Oregon and Washington to Vancouver, Canada. In 1966 he came ashore still working for the same company as the Superintendant of the Seattle Office, handling the same ships during their time in port that he used to sail on in prior years. In 1967 he returned to Cornwall to marry Muriel, whom he had met before taking his job in Seattle. His daughter Susan, from a previous marriage, joined Vince and Muriel for their wedding and continued to remain in their lives, coming to visit with them in Seattle and Portland in the years that followed. They welcomed their son David C. Jackson in December of 1967. They remained in Seattle until 1975 when the Seattle office was closed and he relocated to Portland as manager. Amongst the offices he was elected to whilst there were: President of Merchant Exchange, President of the Portland Steamships Operators and a member of Portland Maritime Association of Oregon. In 1986 the Portland office was closed, he decided to take early retirement, as he had no desire to move to the LA office in California. Later that year he was asked to work as a consultant for the Portland Steamship Operators who were negotiating new contracts. In May he was approached by Schnitzer Steel Industries and asked to become their dock superintendent. He worked for Schnitzer for 7 year, and then retired permanently from the shipping world. Vince and Muriel moved into the Highlands (a 55 plus community) as it was being built in 1990. He was elected to their Board of Directors in 1996 and served for 4 years, his last year as President. In his retirement he enjoyed travelling and camping with their trailer. There were many visits to the coast, as he still loved to be near the ocean. Vince enjoyed playing golf with the Highland’s men’s group and he even enjoyed playing a round of golf with his wife! Golf clubs were always taken on their trailer trips. He also got a lot of pleasure playing tennis at the Tualatin recreation Center in Beaverton with the senior men’s group. He loved his wife and family very much, and took pride in everything they did. He thought the world of his grandchildren, was proud of all their accomplishments. He loved to watch all the sports they were involved in and he was very proud of the good people they were growing up to be. Memorial Service will be on July 1st at 2pm at the Tigard Methodist Church on Walnut Place (behind Jiffy Lube). Light refreshments to follow service in church lobby. Remembrances may be donated to: Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. 322 Eight Ave, 7th Floor New York NY 1001 6792