GUILDERLAND — His “great big smile” is the thing Brian Jackson says he will miss most about his father, Jeffry Jackson, who died on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, surrounded by family and friends, after a years-long battle with cancer. Jeffry Jackson was 64.

Looking through photographs for one to run with his obituary, Brian Jackson said, “We were hard-pressed to find a picture where he wasn’t smiling.”

Another thing his son will miss is his father’s easy companionship. “If you were watching a game, or sitting in the easy chair shooting the breeze, or out on the golf course, he brought joy to everybody and always made you happy.”

Jeffry Jackson, whose entire career was in government service, was born on March 8, 1953 at the old LaGrange homestead on Ostrander Road in Guilderland Center owned by his mother’s family since at least the 18th Century. His father, Leland H. Jackson, worked for Agway, installing furnaces and water heaters in people’s homes, and his mother, Jean LaGrange Jackson, worked part-time as an Agway bookkeeper and part-time as a school bus driver.

On Ostrander Road, Mr. Jackson’s parents had a hobby farm with many animals and large vegetable gardens, said Brian Jackson, describing his father as a “happy boy.” As the youngest of five children, “he had it kind of easy,” his son said; Mr. Jackson’s parents “just let him be who he was.”

Later, Mr. Jackson moved “across the river,” said his son, and raised his own family in East Greenbush. Mr. Jackson’s favorite activities during those years, said Brian Jackson, included serving as cubmaster of Cub Scout Pack 76 and attending every sporting event in which his sons took part.

In his professional life, Mr. Jackson was the director of real-property tax services for Rensselaer County and the assessor for the town of Cambridge, the town of Poestenkill, and the city of Rensselaer. He semi-retired two years ago, said his son, and fully retired “only back in August.”

He had a passion for golf and, in his later years, loved to play with his grandsons, who affectionately called him “Bear,” his son said.

Mr. Jackson was “the go-to handyman for everything,” said Brian Jackson. “There wasn’t a project he couldn’t take on, himself.”

Even though he was “a big, strong farm boy” — raised on a hobby farm with vegetables for the family, and many animals — ”his fine motor skills were amazing,” said his son. When painting a room, he could paint perfectly straight lines without using tape, Brian Jackson said, and he could wallpaper patterns that would look like one giant sheet without any seams.

He was patient and had a good way of teaching his two boys how to do new things, Brian Jackson recalled. “He didn’t yell and scream, and if you didn’t pick it up right away, he wasn’t worried about it.

“Plain and simple, he was the absolute best dad in the world,” his son concluded.

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Jeffry A. Jackson — known to his friends as “Jeff” — is survived by his sons,  Brian Jackson and his wife, Jennette, of Guilderland; and Ian Jackson and his wife, Miosotis, of Scituate, Massachusetts; his cherished grandsons, Brian Jr. and Bennett; his sister, Karen Simmons and her husband, William; three brothers, William Jackson and his wife, Martha; Kenneth Jackson and his wife, Gale; and Leland Jackson and his wife, Sharon; sisters-in-law Vala Jackson and Christine Barber; mother-in-law, Monica Barber; many nieces and nephews; his beloved companion, Jane Leahey Reynolds; the Leahey family, with whom he was very close; and his former spouse, Deborah Jackson.  

His parents, Leland H. Jackson and Jean LaGrange Jackson, died before him.

Funeral services were held on March 27, with burial at Albany Rural Cemetery. Arrangements were by the Reilly & Son Funeral Home of Voorheesville.  

Memorial contributions may be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation at www.themmrf.org.  

Another way to remember Jeff Jackson, said his son, would be to give the gift of blood at a local blood drive or the American Red Cross Center on Everett Road in Albany. Jeffry Jackson’s blood cancer meant that, during his last year of life, he received blood transfusions every week or so. Mr. Jackson often said that he felt bad for having to take blood, when others might need it. At the same time, “he felt blessed” that it was there, his son said.

—Elizabeth Floyd Mair