Obituary of Teddy Layne Jackson

Teddy passed away at home in Tacoma on December 16, 2008, after a brief struggle against kidney cancer. Ted, the oldest of three children, was born in Yakima, WA, on May 5, 1954 … yes, a “Cinco de Mayo” baby … and moved with his parents to Southern California before his first birthday. Ted grew-up in the LA area with his younger sister Robin and brother Brian until his parents moved to Tacoma in 1967. Ted graduated from Washington High School in 1972, with his project car, a Pontiac Safari, still not completely rebuilt. Ted tried college at Central Washington University, but after particularly long weekend without sleep or study because of parties in his dorm, he called his dad to come get him. Probably the only thing he missed was the Shorin Ru (sp?) karate classes. Ted continued some college classes at TCC, but moved into working full time as a dry wall finisher (“taper”) with his dad. Ted later switched from residential to commercial construction, working primarily for Pacific Construction Systems, and was a member of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades for over 35 years. During high school and college, Ted started dance at Keller’s Dance Studio with his sister. Later, they moved to the Jo Emery Ballet School, where Ted took classes in both ballet and jazz, and was a member of the Tacoma Performing Dance Company. That’s where Ted and Sara met. Although Ted gave Sara a birthday present for her 18th birthday, they didn’t start dating until more than a year later. Sometime in 1979, they moved in together on a “temporary basis” that lasted nearly 30 years. They were actually married (!) on September 21, 2008. Ted enjoyed taping, enjoyed working, enjoyed many different hobbies and sports over the years. Sara’s family introduced Ted to skiing in his early 20’s (her mom and sister took him to the top of Green Valley at Crystal Mountain on his second time on skis!). Despite that, he skied for many years and liked going to Sun Valley in the winter. Ted liked pool and darts, and played for the Silver Bullet Tavern in Fife. In later years, Ted took up golf, and while working on The Lodge at Suncadia in 2007 played golf most every day that he was there, and discovered the hybrid club! When Sara dragged Ted into the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) in 1992, he embraced traditional archery as his pursuit in the historic recreation group. His parents had competed in archery when Ted was growing up, and in the SCA he found that he had some natural talent and ability in the sport. Although not the competitive sort, Ted won a local championship one year and became the “Archery Defender” of the Barony of Blatha An Oir. In addition to archery, Ted enjoyed the camping and the camaraderie of his friends in the SCA. He remained a “stealth player”, in the background, except when on the archery field, and most didn’t know he was there. If a friend was running an event though, he was there in the kitchen washing dishes, in camp cooking breakfast, or standing at the autocrat’s shoulder to provide support and turn his hand to anything that needed doing. Ted’s favorite thing to do, though, was to go antiquing … or just call it junking. It started innocently enough with the occasional garage sale. Then his long-time friend, Patty (Sara’s college housemate), started taking him to antique shows, and his collecting took off: Ford automobile stuff, whiskey advertising, seltzer bottles, skiing Santa’s, and anything just plain odd. Ted had always wanted to go to one of the big antique shows on the east coast, so for his last birthday, May 2008, he got to go back to Sturbridge Mass. for the annual week-long antique show. Ted is survived by his wife and long-time companion Sara Bonneville, parents Glen and Mary Jackson, sister Robin Roderick, brother Brian Jackson, niece Dena Roderick, nephew Deven Dines, and numerous friends. We’ll miss the sense of humor and the laugh that bellowed from the depths of his soul. The family asks that any who wish to share Teddy stories, please leave your memories on the on-line guest book provided on this web site.