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 Leonard (Len) Jackson was born in Lewiston, Idaho on April 15, 1922 and grew up in Oregon and Washington. After high school, he joined the Coast Guard and served during World War II. After the war, he received a B.S. degree in Metallurgy from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Upon graduation, he joined Cerro Corp., a mining company in Peru, South America, where he met Gabriela Pfieffer. They were married on August 4, 1951 in Lima, Peru. After returning to the States, their first child and only daughter, Deborah, was born in 1952 in Vancouver, Washington. Relocating to Chicago, he took a position with Reynolds Aluminum, and after a few months was transferred to Richmond, Virginia. After staying in the United States for two years, he and his family returned to the Cerro Corp. and Peru. Living at 12,000 ft. in the Andes Mountains had its effect upon the family. A short two years later, the Jacksons returned to Vancouver, Washington with Gabby's sister, Lucy, whom he raised as his own. In Vancouver, he worked for the Columbia Paper Mill as a water pollution engineer on the Columbia River. From there, the family moved to Woodsfield, Ohio where Len worked for Olin Aluminum for 7 years. Leonard, Jr. was born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1960. After 7 years, the Jacksons moved to Detroit, Michigan where Len worked for McLaughlin Steel Company. In 1966, after Randy was born, the family moved to Palos Verdes, California, where Len worked for Harvey Aluminum/Martin Marietta as a spectrographer and travelled extensively throughout the world. he spent a considerable amount of time in St. Croix, Virgin Islands and was in Guinea, Africa for three months, setting up an aluminum lab. In 1971, Len went to work for Xerox Corp. in El Segundo, California, as an Environmental Engineer. Len retired in 1987 and the Jacksons moved to The Gardens in San Pedro. When the boys were growing up, he coached little league baseball and football for many years. Len loved fishing, square dancing, golf, swimming and bowling. Up to one week prior to his death, Len was bowling 4 times a week. He was a devoted husband and a wonderful father and grandfather. He passed away on February 17, 2002, in Torrance, California, leaving to mourn his passing and celebrate his life, his beloved wife of 50 years, Gabriela; his daughter, Deborah Bowles; his sons, Leonard Wilbur Jackson, Jr. and Randall John Jackson; his grandchildren, Jason James, Jacob James, Lucas James, Stephanie Jackson and Nathan Jackson; his first great grandson, Caden James, who will be born on Thursday, February 21, 2002; and his sister-in-law, Lucy Tredennick and her husband, Don. |
