Clarence “Casey” G. Jackson, 91, of North Platte, passed away December 29, 2016.
He was born in a sod house two miles north of North Platte to Fred and Nellie (Lister) Jackson. Casey grew to manhood on the family ranch, ten miles north of North Platte. He graduated from North Platte High School at the age of seventeen and worked various jobs for neighboring ranches until joining the US Navy Seabees in June of 1943.
He served with the 116th NCB in the Pacific Theatre, attached to the 5th Marine Division and landed on the shores of Kyshui Japan at Japanese aircraft factory of Sasebo, Japan two weeks after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, 20 miles north of Sasebo, which had been destroyed by fire bombs previously. During the time spent in the Seabees, Casey was a bulldozer operator, truck driver and squad leader of a machine gun squad, achieving the rate of Machinist Mate 2nd class. In December of 1945 he was shipped back to the United States to San Francisco on points and was honorably discharged in February 1946 at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. After discharge he worked as a heavy equipment operator on road building and in the wheat harvest in Kansas.
In September 1947, Casey was employed by Kansas Nebraska Natural Gas Company, later KN Energy and now Kinder Morgan Gas Co., retiring in 1987 after 40 years as crew foreman and compressor station superintendent at North Platte .
Casey married Esther Cohn in March of 1947. To this union, two children were born, Sheryl (Sherry) and Beverley (Bev). In 1967 he was divorced from Esther and was single until 1986 when he married Orlene Adams, widow of Lowell Adams, formerly of Maxwell and North Platte, residing in Norfolk, Ne. He returned to North Platte in 2014, following Orlene’s death in 2004. Casey enjoyed camping and sightseeing all over the United States in his motorhome, having driven through all of the continental U.S. He also loved country music, hunting, fishing and card games.
Casey was preceded in death by his second wife, Orlene and first wife Esther; his parents; sisters, Lucille Callahan of Nyssa, Oregon and Marie Stevenson of Tryon, Ne; brothers, John Jackson of Rushville, Ne and Loren Jackson of Hershey, Ne; a stepson, Russell Adams of Des Moines, Iowa.
He is survived by daughters, Sherry Jackson of Kearney, Ne. and Bev Henderson of Hayden, Idaho; sister, Dorothy Hodo of La Harpe, Kansas; granddaughter, Ashley Adams of Chicago, Illinois; grandsons, Conner Richardson of Chicago, Illinois and Todd Adams of Fremont, Ne; stepson, Leonard Adams of Fremont, Ne and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
A memorial has been established in his name to the Heart Association. A memorial gathering will be 2:00 pm Saturday, January 7, 2017 at Carpenter Memorial Chapel in North Platte, Ne. Cremation was chosen. Inurnment will be Monday, January 9, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. at Ft. McPherson National Cemetery in Maxwell with Military Honors. Online condolences may be shared at www.carpentermemorial.com. Those wishing to sign the memorial book may do so from 9am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Carpenter Memorial Chapel is in care of arrangements.