Our dad, Richard (Dick) Marlin Jackson, joined his ancestors on the other side on December 13, 2022, at home. He was born on June 23, 1937 at the Klamath Agency Indian Health Service Hospital. He was the first born and only son of Jeanette Clara Jackson and Walter Luther Bailey of Blue Lake. Jeanette passed away much too young when he was three, the year after having Jeanette and Walter’s second child Sonya Dearest.

Richard and his sister Sonya were raised by their grandparents (“Mom” and “Dad”) Clara Maude (Bussell) Jackson and Boyd Julius Jackson, Sr. with their big family, near Blue Lake. He was a member of the Klamath Tribes and proud of his Modoc and Hupa (Tsungwe/Whilkut) ancestry, attending tribal gatherings when he was able to. As a child and young adult, he spent summers on the Klamath reservation, in Oregon. He attended Glendale School and Arcata High School. In 7th and 8th grades sometimes Richard would be called on to serve as the bus driver when the teacher at Glendale School was too nervous to drive some Humboldt County roads.

Dad met his sweetheart, and the mother of his children, Sharon Kay Coffelt, in Arcata in 1959. The two married in 1960 and began their family the next year, having their first-born son Richard Marlon in 1961. Then two more sons were born two years apart — Kevin Leroy and Damon Garrett. Ten years after their first, they had their daughter, Elizabeth Jeanette.

Dad had an amazing, full and colorful life. While he was a working man, beginning his career in the timber industry as a teenager and working as a Logging Truck Driver until he was 79, he also found time to bowl semi-professionally, race cars at Redwood Acres, and race motorcycles with his boys at various tracks around the area. He was an avid runner in his 40s and 50s, often running long distances and racing in numerous local races. He also took flying lessons for a short time and practiced the martial art of Aikido in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Dad lived his entire life in Humboldt County, but was so happy when he built his home on the land he was raised on near Blue Lake and lived the last 20 years of his life there, close to family.

Richard was preceded in death by his parents Jeanette Clara Jackson and Walter Luther Bailey, grandparents Clara Maude Jackson and Boyd Julius Jackson, Sr., their children who were his brothers and sisters, and his wife Sharon Kay (Coffelt) Jackson. He is survived by his sister Sonya Dearest Lipscomb, his children Richard Marlon Jackson (Sonnie), Kevin Leroy Jackson (Sharon), Damon Garrett Jackson (Yvonne), and Elizabeth Jeanette Jackson and his grandchildren Jamayca May Jackson, Devin Walter Herrera, and Tsasgips (Tas) Loujean Herrera, as well as many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Richard was a kind and generous spirit and will be missed by all who had the good fortune to know him. The family apologizes for anyone who was left out, as Dad had many good friends and relatives who were all very special to him.

A celebration of life will be held in the spring. Contact the family for more information.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Richard Jackson’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.