Mr. James Almond Jackson, Sr., age 87, of Lavonia, died Wednesday, December 19, 2007 at Embracing Hospice in Jonesboro.
Born May 5, 1920, in Franklin County he was the son of the late Ida (Wansley) and James Burton Jackson. He was a veteran of the US Army, where he served as a Green Beret during the Korean War, earning a Purple Heart, Silver Star, and numerous commendations. He was a personal chauffer for John Wayne during the making of the movie "The Green Beret". Mr. Jackson was a retired truck driver and was a member of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church.
Survivors include daughters: Linda Joyce Youngblood of Forest Park and Cynthia Delores Dodd of Mt. Airy; sons: James Almond Jackson, Jr. and Robert Burton Jackson of Lavonia; brother: T. J. Rice of Indiana; seventeen grandchildren, nineteen great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.
He was predeceased by his parents; wife: Mary Ellen Jackson; sister: Sarah Hampton; granddaughter: Jamie Lynn Jackson, and sons-in-law: Clinton E. Dodd and Howard E. Youngblood.
Funeral services will be held 2:00 p.m. Saturday, December 22, 2007 at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church with the Revs. Kenneth Jones, Mike Petty and John Ashworth officiating. The body will be place in the church at 1:00 p.m. Interment will follow in Franklin Memorial Gardens- North.
The body is at the funeral home where the family will receive friends Friday evening 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. The family is at the home.