Submitted by members –of his family

What is our higher purpose?

Can I help to make the world a better place?

How can I ease the pain of another?

Have I helped a child seek his or her full potential?

These are the kinds of questions that occupied the heart and mind of Albert Jackson.

He was not particularly concerned with the ambitions of the mainstream world for himself, but he did devote his life to helping others to see and achieve the best version of themselves.

It was his mission, it was his passion.

The terms "role model" and "mentor" are frequently used to encourage us to set a good example for younger people. Albert Jackson, even as a young man, naturally exemplified the requisite qualities.

In recent days, an alumnus of Albert's beloved St. George's Secondary School wrote: "All of my male contemporaries at school privately, secretly, clandestinely, adopted Mr. Jackson as our surrogate father and we strove to emulate him in every way."

Albert Jackson was well loved by ordinary men and royalty and he met them all with the same measure of respect.

His family witnessed his investiture at Buckingham Palace and had a chuckle as the Queen seemed unable to let Albert move on after the regulation 30 seconds. Albert was very charming and of course had been a dinner partner of her Royal Majesty on more than one occasion at Government House here in Bermuda.

At the other end of the spectrum, a burglar appeared in court, several years ago, for multiple counts of breaking and entering in the Southampton neighbourhood, where Albert and Louise made their home.

After being found guilty, the judge asked the defendant to explain why he had taken so many items from each home except one.

The defendant replied: "Well, Your Honour, we broke the window, entered the study and made our way to the bedroom drawers where folks keep their spare cash and there, looking at us from a picture frame, was Mr. Albert Jackson.

"We looked around and realised this was his home, so we closed the drawers, tidied everything up, picked up the broken glass and left."

It would be true to say that Albert lived his life by the motto: "By love serve one another," which was taught to him and his siblings by their parents, William Hunte Jackson and Sarah Louise Dickinson Jackson.

He lovingly partnered with Louise Ann Carpenter Jackson, his devoted wife of 54 years, to go on and create a world of education for young Bermudians, most notably the St. George's Secondary School, of which he was the founding principal, and the Jackson School of Performing Arts, which has served thousands of students since its establishment in 1952.

Albert was a great lover of classical music and enjoyed playing the violin; many of Albert's fondest memories included his years as a classical musician in the Island's hotels in the 1940s, where he also served as a waiter on occasion.

This experience set him up to be one of the most generous tippers in history and it would amuse the family to see the delight on the faces of airport and hotel staff when Mr. Jackson came through.

Louise, through her enduring love for Albert, has diligently stayed by his side and kept him healthy and vital through 34 years of cancer treatments and surgeries.

The family acknowledges with a great debt of gratitude the skill of Dr. John Glick and Dr. Gary Crooks at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and their team of professionals and, locally, Dr. Beresford Swan, Dr. Roger Wong, Dr. Lau and Dr. Schultz, supported by the dedicated staff at KEMH.

Albert lived for his children, Carol Ann, Debbie and Susan, pursuing a lifetime of professional development and community service, which inspires them still and forms a legacy for his beloved grandchildren, Alexis, Arianna, Scott, Samantha and Natasha.

A loving husband, a devoted father and uncle, a good friend and a great soul.

John Albert Sidney Jackson was the youngest child of William and Sarah. Family lore says that Albert's mother determined she would have one more son for her husband Willie and so said so done.

Albert was the youngest of brothers Vernon and Shirley and sisters Cecily, Leonie, Rosalie, Sally and Lucille.

He was, in effect, a child of the 19th Century, although he was born in 1919. His world was that of the Victorian era.

His parents maintained a very strict code of conduct and a high moral standard for all of their children and Albert certainly took it all to heart, especially as he was additionally supervised by his six older brothers and sisters.

As a young boy, Albert was a companion to his father, accompanying him on fishing trips by row boat out to Timlins' Narrows, walking from Brooklyn to Prospect to listen to the British military bands on Sunday after church and on each election day travelling by horse and carriage from Somerset to St. George's to vote in each parish where they owned a plot of land.

This was Albert's early introduction to culture and politics.

Education was a challenge in Albert's era. He had hoped to attend Saltus Grammar School in 1924 with his neighbourhood buddies, but instead as they headed off to the big inviting buildings down the road from their homes, Albert was taken over to Elliott Street to attend school in the basement of the Hill family homestead.

On that first day of school, Albert met one of his very dearest and oldest friends, Hilton Hill II.

He went on to graduate from the Berkeley Institute, a school of which his father was one of the founders and where Albert was honoured on Founders' Day in 2008.

After Berkeley he completed teachers' training at Kingston Technical School in Jamaica (where he met his first wife, Ruby Clarke). He returned to teach at "Tin Top" as the manual training instructor for the west end of the Island.

As the manual arts were not a natural calling for Albert, he obtained a Bachelor's in education from Columbia University, and two Masters' degrees in education and educational psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of London, respectively.

While engaged in the pursuit of academic qualifications, Albert followed a very busy teaching career — and found his true calling as a leader in the field of education.

His resume includes Francis Patton, Harrington Sound and, his pride and joy, the St. George's Secondary School.

Albert loved the students and community in St. George's and followed their progress with great pride, interest and fond memories until the very end of his life.

Albert taught not by the book alone, but also by example. Through his desire to share the beauty and potential of our world, he inspired his family and his students and many others who crossed his path to reach beyond themselves and experience the many gifts provided by the grace of God — like a sunset or a beautiful melody.

Albert progressed his career through the Ministry of Education and then the Bank of Bermuda from which he retired at the age of 65. That was his second retirement — but he wasn't finished yet.

Not one to sit quietly by while his beloved Bermuda might need his help, Albert was continuously involved with many clubs, organisations, the teachers' union and his fraternity and he was appointed to sit on many tribunals and scholarship committees.

He has served as president of Rotary International in Bermuda, and was founding chairman of the Human Rights Commission.

He is a Justice of the Peace and has been honoured by the Queen with an MBE and CBE and in 1985 he was appointed an independent Senator, becoming President of the Senate in 1987 for a further 11 years at the end of which he began his third retirement.

Albert was also a committed participant in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, representing Bermuda throughout the English-speaking world on matters of parliamentary and governmental practice.

This man loved his country and its people very deeply. He was driven by a single overriding moral imperative throughout his life — an innate sense of duty, a natural sense of honour and selflessness, which are among the cardinal virtues of the Bermuda in which he came of age.

As an educator from the outbreak of the Second World War until his retirement from education in 1978, he did everything in his power to ensure that there was equal access for all to the benefits of a first-class education, vocational and academic.

He helped to design and implement the integration of our school system and believed fervently that it would be possible for us all to live in peace and quietude side by side with equal opportunity for all, in his lifetime.

How nearly have we achieved this? For Albert, not nearly enough. No one was expendable to Albert Jackson nor should anyone be denied opportunity because of race or family or financial circumstances.

In his own undemonstrative and pragmatic way, Albert Jackson was as much a social reformer as he was a teacher, and administrator, during his three decades with the Education Ministry.

His contributions did as much to assure genuine equality for all of Bermuda's citizens as those in more high-profile political positions.

His qualities and contributions extend beyond the space appropriate for this eulogy. He was everything I have shared with you now and so much more.

He loved a good laugh, maintained lifelong friendships, managed to find quality time for his family and was, just generally, a sweetheart, a heart which he was prepared to wear on his sleeve and keep open for the benefit of all.

I believe he discovered and achieved his higher purpose — teacher, father, husband, friend — a great soul carrying out his duty on earth with abundant love.

He will be greatly missed by us all.

The family wishes to thank you for your loving support of Albert during his lifetime and for the cards, messages and flowers received after his death.

Your support through his period of illness means a great deal to us and to Albert in the world beyond.