Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Wayne O. Jackson died of COVID-19 on August 23, 2022. He was 74 years old. He was born in Ft. Worth, Texas and attended the University of Texas, Arlington after which he took a commission in the U.S. Army in 1971. In 1993 he retired at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan. where he had served as a CAS3 instructor. He and his family remained in the Leavenworth area until 2015.

Everyone knew Wayne as a man of the highest morality, ethics, compassion and kindness. After retiring from the Army, he sought ways to serve the local community. He worked for Mothers Against Drunk Driving and delivered meals to elderly shut-ins. He served on the Board of Catholic Charities for which he also helped organize and run the annual golf tournament to raise funds for school supplies. At the request of the Council of Churches, he designed and implemented Project Winterize which gave volunteers and businesses the opportunity to make the homes of local senior and disabled citizens warmer during the winter. Largely because of his deep love for his own children, he volunteered extensively with local schools through the Lansing PTA and Booster Club. With his wife Mary, he worked daily with children at Anthony Elementary for seven years primarily helping them improve their reading skills and realizing that reading could be fun.

In 1994 Wayne was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease which over time diminished his ability to function both mentally and physically. Even so, he was still trying to lighten the load of those around him until his death.

Wayne is survived, loved and mourned by Mary, his wife of 47 years, his daughter Hope and son-in-law Bob Sonderman, and his son Brian, daughter-in-law Arielle and grandson Clive, his sister Barbara and her husband Michael Estep and his sister Linda and her husband Dr. Wesley Raborn.

Wayne will be interred in the Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Wash.