Jackson was one of 5 children - he had an older brother, two older sisters, and a younger brother. His father passed when he was a young child (7), so he was raised by his mother (a school teacher/principal) and his oldest brother.

He loved reading novels as a kid, and would get in trouble for reading during class! Then as a teen he started to take school more seriously and eventually became a top student which allowed him to attend Tai Da (National Taiwan University) where he studied to become a Civil engineer. At Tai Da, he met some lifelong friends that would remain friends in his new life in the US.

He came to the US in 1963 to attend the California Institute of Technology for graduate studies in Civil Engineering. During this time, he had a host family - the Johnsons in Santa Maria, who taught him American customs, including how to play Santa Claus. After a year, he relocated to Illinois to attend the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign to obtain his PhD. He was the president of the Chinese Students’ Club where he met his wife Kathleen. They married in July of 1969 and moved to West Los Angeles, where they raised their two daughters, Camille and Kimberly. In addition to his wife and daughters, Jackson is survived by his sons-in-law, Tony and Andrew, and granddaughter, Kylie.

Jackson worked as a Civil Engineer for nearly 25 years, specializing in designing structures for earthquake resilience. He also had a side business importing canned gourmet food - starting with escargot - from Taiwan, which he sold to French restaurants around LA, then turned it into a mail order business with customers across the country. He also had a golf retail store for several years, and invented a golf club customization tool, using his knowledge of physics to take the guesswork out of the process.

Outside of work he played tennis, golf, bridge, mah-jong. He loved classical music, especially Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mozart, and Mendelssohn. He also loved to write and tell jokes. He had a “stand-up” comedy set for several years at our Chinese school NYE party.

During retirement, Jackson hit the gym every day, well into his early 80s. He and Kathy traveled with friends. He tutored high school students in math and physics, played bridge, and got together with friends to hike, sing karaoke, and of course eat good food. He enjoyed finding recipes and cooking his favorite Taiwanese dishes.

In a 2021 interview with his daughter Kim, he said he wanted most to be remembered for excelling in anything he decided to take on. Just before he passed, he said "I'm very satisfied with my life. I spent good times with friends, I'm proud of my family, I ate good food, I traveled the world. I'm very satisfied. I have nothing else to say."

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