Dave Jackson used his gifts to better Mequon and Thiensville
By Lisa Curtis - Special to the News Graphic
MEQUON — Let’s face it, the success of any community service group is largely driven by the commitment of its members. The citizen volunteers who spend their nights in meetings, while the rest of us unwind at home. The planners and the thinkers who toil over ideas big and small to improve the world around them.
David Jackson was one of those people who made Mequon and Thiensville better places to live. He did it through his involvement in a broad slate of nonprofits and ad hoc committees. He did it through his generosity. And he did it by just being one of the nicest guys one could meet.
“I don’t think I ever heard him say a bad thing about anybody,” said friend and fellow Rotarian Steve Lettau. “People like that are probably far and few between.”
Jackson died Oct. 4 at the age of 84.
“He had recently had multiple dinners with friends and family, lunches, and even enjoyed a Badger Game with a close friend and grandson. Still driving, still walking, and still using emojis on his phone, he was living life to the absolute best that he could,” his family wrote in his obituary.
Close friend Dave Romoser met Jackson when both were involved with the Community Conversation on the future of Mequon, Thiensville, the school district and the Chamber of Commerce.
They were two of 34 people appointed, Romoser said.
“That’s where I met Dave, and almost immediately said, ‘This is an exceptional human being,’” Romoser said.
In addition to his genuine interest and concern for people, Jackson’s acute listening skills and quiet, deliberative style made him a true asset to any organization or group. He was the last person to speak at a meeting, preferring to hear what others had to say first. And when he did speak, Jackson didn’t use many words.
But they were the right words, Romoser said.
“His thoughts when he spoke were golden nuggets, take them to the bank,” he said. “One of those human beings that had no need to run at the mouth, but a great need to listen and understand what everybody else was saying. And then at the end …. It would either be a wonderful summary of an hourand- a-half discussion or it would be two questions that should have been asked and weren’t asked.”
Jackson grew up in Wausau, the son of a barber and the grandson of a Lutheran minister. He was class president as well as a multi-sport athlete.
His academic success led to a scholarship to Harvard University. But Jackson left after a year, preferring to attend the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee instead because Harvard was not a place he was comfortable, Romoser said.
Jackson spent his career at Finley Adhesives in Milwaukee, moving up to second in command.
He developed the company’s international business division, which allowed him to take hundreds of trips to Europe.
After retirement, his vast travel experience and a personal mantra of asking people how he could help led Jackson to buy Four Seasons Travel in Thiensville. He later started the Apollo Systems, Inc. consulting firm.
What made Jackson particularly special was that he was a connector, said Mequon-Thiensville Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tina Schwantes. He connected people with people, groups with groups and those in need with someone to fill it. And it wasn’t just his own involvement that was appreciated, but that he encouraged others to be involved as well, Schwantes said. She said they were fortunate to have Jackson serve on the chamber board and as well as on the chamber’s Local Government Relations Committee.
Like Romoser, Schwantes remembered his thoughtful approach to every topic.
“Dave was a great thinker.
He had lots of insights to offer,” Schwantes said. “It is a real loss. He will be missed.”
Jackson’s interests were varied, but impactful. Among the community service projects he was involved in were: The Mequon-Thiensville School District’s Superintendent’s Business Advisory Council.
Concordia University Wisconsin advisory boards planning for a fine arts center and later a nursing program.
The Mequon-Thiensville Sunrise Rotary The Board of Directors member for Right Step, a Milwaukee program to help at-risk teens. The Rotary Riverwalk Steering Committee, a joint effort between the two local Rotary Clubs to plan and solicit contributions for the development of the Riverwalk.
The Wooden Bat League and the Lakeshore Chinooks team, for which Jackson solicited support.
Former Mequon Mayor and Alderwoman Connie Pukaite said that Jackson was a strong proponent of good government, the school district in particular. Even long after his children graduated from MTSD, he regularly attended School Board meetings.
Pukaite called him a peacemaker and a mentor.
“Our community will miss him,” she said.
Romoser believes that above all else, Jackson was motivated by love.
“He would always look for the good in anybody,” he said. “He had an abiding belief that everybody had good in them.”
Jackson is survived by his daughter Julia, his son Bill and two grandchildren. His wife, Carol, died in 2010. A celebration of life for Jackson will be held in the spring of 2022 Jackson’s family has requested that in his memory, people donate a pint of blood.