Richard F. Jackson

Richard F. Jackson, age 83 of Madison Ohio, passed away peacefully on September 21, 2026, surrounded by his wife Patricia and his children Chris, Dave, Cheryll, Linda and Tom at the Reserve Care Hospice Center in Cleveland.
Rich was born on April 24, 1943, in Cleveland, Ohio to the late Peter and Delia (nee O’Neill) Jackson. He was the dear youngest brother of MaryLou (Santos) Malave, and the late Celine (Frank) Burger, (Bud) (Mary) Jackson, Eugene (Suzanne) Jackson, and Brian (Marilyn) Jackson.
Rich is survived in life by Patricia (Dixon), his beloved wife and best friend of 62 years; the loving father of Christopher (Gretchen), David (Janis), Cheryll, Linda and Thomas (Gina); Cherished grandfather of Theresa (Dominic), Christopher Jr., Emily, Jennifer (Ryan), Kayla (Matt), Erin (Aurel), Abigail and Ana and the great-grandfather to Dominic, Charlotte, August, Bronson, Cali, May, and Zoey.
He was a favorite uncle to his nieces and nephews who recall many stories of family get-togethers, camping trips and other fun events. He and his brothers, sisters and their spouses were close and got together many times each year to ensure the cousins got to know each other and developed some memorable good times and long-term relationships.
He was a 1960 graduate of St. Joseph High School where he excelled and played the saxophone in the band. He met his future bride in a whirlwind teenage romance and never looked back. He started working for Reliance Electric, Euclid Division right out of High school as an Electrical draftsman. He worked his way up in the company as a Systems and Controls Engineer installing equipment all over the country and even traveled to Korea for 6 weeks in 1990 to ensure a big install project went off without a hitch. He retired in 2002 after 39 yrs from Rockwell Automation.
Rich had a passion for teaching self-defense and was an expert in karate and Amerika Shiki Ju-Jutsu. He was a big guy and had a presence that many could find intimidating at first, but people warmed up to him quickly. He and two of his best friends, Frank Kovacs and Harvey Torok, founded and grew Cleveland School of Self-Defense and Judo in Cleveland in the late 60’s. They, along with Bill Twigger, were some of the originators of the Midwest Ju-Jitsu Association. He was a Black belt 2nd degree (Ni-Dan). He also taught “Women’s Self Defense” classes at the local YMCA and ran a home studio, Madison Martial Arts where he taught the martial art Aiki Jutso and self-defense to most of the Madison Police force in the mid 70’s.
Rich loved Lionel trains, often to the chagrin of mom with the amount of money spent on those “darn trains”. They were all over the house, closets, attic and garage. He created and shared many different layouts and especially loved when the grandkids would come over and take control.
Rich was a true DIYer making many home improvements over the years. He and mom loved spending mornings and evenings sitting on the large porch and deck he built with his sons and neighbors. He purchased and cleared the lot next door so we could have a huge side yard to play in and have fires. He started Northcoast Perennials; growing different kinds of Hosta plants in the side yard. He cross-bred a few and created his own unique varieties. He designed and built the unattached garage and set up his woodworking shop, where he built many projects including Adirondak chairs, Christmas fences and many more.
He truly loved the neighbors on Avalon. It was a very tight group of close friends who hung out most weekends with fires, cookouts, drinking beers, cheering on the Browns and Indians, helping each other with home projects and watching over each other’s kids. The Varga, Enderbrock, Ames, Rogowski, Shultz and the Reynolds families were a tight group of friends and neighbors.
Rich was a lifelong learner and early adopter. He taught himself multiple computer languages and was ahead of his time, building his own HealthKit computer from a scratch kit in 1980. He loved installing floppy discs and showing us all how it worked. He attended Lakeland Community College graduating with an associate’s degree in 1989 and then attended Cleveland state for engineering. He was a voracious reader and loved historical fiction, Lous L’Amour westerns and military thrillers.
He loved his Irish heritage and enjoyed listening to the Clancy Brothers and Irish Rovers and drinking green beer on St. Patrick’s Day, not because he liked it, but because his children liked presenting him with that treat. The love and pride of our Irish heritage and music was passed down to each of his children.
Thank you for setting a good example of Fatherhood and for loving your wife and children. We are all better adults because of you.
Visitation will be held at Behm Family Funeral Home, 26 River Street in Madison, Ohio, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Monday September 28, 2026.
A funeral mass will be held at Immaculate Conception Church, 2846 Hubbard Road in Madison, OH, at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday September 29, 2026. Friends and family will gather to celebrate Rich’s life after the mass. Private burial will be at a later date. Behm Family Funeral Home of Madison is assisting the family. Online obituary and condolences may be viewed at www.behmfuneral.com