When Jerry Jackson led Ohio University to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament elite eight in 1964, he became a Bobcat basketball legend.
According to his obituary by Hartsell Funeral Homes, Jackson and his team became the first Mid-American Conference school to reach the elite eight.
Despite this accomplishment, the Rendville native spent the next four decades proving his greatest assists came in the classroom, not on the court.
Jackson, who died Jan. 13 at age 84, devoted 37 years teaching middle school students in Zanesville after his brief brush with professional basketball. Along the way, he coached, mentored and became a pillar for community service in Southeast Ohio.
Michael Morgan, who taught and coached alongside Jackson at Grover Cleveland Junior High School for about 25 years, said he remembers Jackson as calm and gentle with students.
“Being a big guy, you would think he would be rough, but he always spoke to the kids with respect,” Morgan said. “And (he was) kind of a quiet person. He didn’t do much yelling.”
Former student of Jackson’s, Heidi Palmer-Harris, remembered his impact in a Facebook tribute following his death.
“He had such a way with all of us students,” Palmer-Harris said on Facebook. “We would stop by his room and talk to him every day. He had a great sense of humor and his laugh was infectious. Mr. Jackson loved and cared about us as students. You could feel that when you were in his presence.”
Morgan said Jackson had a way of connecting with students, many of whom came from difficult circumstances.
“(There were) a lot of poor kids,” Morgan said. “He just had a way of working with the kids.”
Jackson taught industrial technology at Grover Cleveland, where he also coached track and basketball. He later coached basketball for 12 years at Ohio University-Zanesville, his obituary said. Zanesville City Schools honored Jackson for his "dedication, commitment, and gift of time to education while enriching the lives of Ohio students."
Beyond the classroom, Jackson was deeply involved in community service. In 2015, he and his wife, Anita Jackson, were named a power couple at the Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast in Zanesville.
Jerry Jackson was a founder of the Nelson T. Gant Foundation, which, according to its website, focuses on building character and community pride. In his busy schedule, Jerry Jackson also served as chairman of the Rendville Historic Preservation Society.
The preservation society, as stated on the website, formed as a non-profit organization in 2015 and works to preserve Rendville's African American and labor history. Rendville, the smallest incorporated town in Ohio, was a diverse area in the late 1800s and early 1900s, housing both African Americans and European immigrants.
Morgan said Jerry Jackson spent several years coordinating with former residents who had moved away to support the preservation effort.
"Every morning for 35 years, I would go to work and go into Jerry's room, and we would sit down and talk," Morgan said. "He would talk about how they were making a museum down there and trying to make it look nice."
Despite his five Hall of Fame inductions at OU, OU-Zanesville’s Athletic Department, Ohio Hoop Zone, Ohio Basketball and Southern Local Schools, Morgan said Jerry Jackson rarely discussed his accomplishments.
"Most people knew he was a basketball player, and they knew that he was good, but that wasn't his conversation," Morgan said.
In addition to his long athletic career, Jerry Jackson was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1966 and served two years, including the Vietnam War, according to his obituary. He returned to OU to earn his bachelor's and master's degrees before beginning his teaching career.
Whether he was on the court, celebrating Rendville or teaching children, Jerry Jackson was always eager to help someone in need and be a friend to all. Morgan said Jerry Jackson’s legacy will not be forgotten and he was special to all.
“Everybody remembers him as a superstar player, a superstar person and he did not have any enemies, everyone liked him,” Morgan said.
