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Richard H. Jackson's Home Page
The year was 1929. Richard Jackson was born on September 4th at Fort Wayne, Indiana. The third and last child of Charles S. and Lois Kyle Jackson.
Five years later, the Jackson family moved to Bluffton, Indiana, where the housing was cheaper but no work was available for Charles Jackson. Richard enjoyed swimming, scouting, and exploring the surrounding woods.
The Jackson family moved from
Bluffton, Indiana to Dayton, Ohio in the summer of 1942. I attended eighth
grade and high school in Dayton and was scheduled to go to Purdue after high
school, but spent my savings for a new Crosley convertible automobile in May
1947. After high school I worked as a printer and traveled for a year, then
moved to Chicago and worked in printing, dishwasher, etc. (any job that was
available) for two years, moving back to Dayton and working as a printer for a
year or so. I then went active duty in the Naval Reserves for two years (one
year was spent in Gun Fire Control Electronics school). After the Navy I worked
in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale for 8 months before attending the University of
Florida (Fall 1954) graduating with a BS in Electrical Engineering
(Electronics) (Spring 1958).
After graduating, I went to work for Pan American as a manager trainee for a
down range station (Cape Canaveral Missile Test Range). After 9 months with Pan
Am, I left to work for General Dynamics Convair as a telemetry engineer on the
Atlas missile and later managed the telemetry data processing station. During
this time I was directly involved in more than 100 Atlas missile launches
including weapon systems, space probes and Mercury launches such as John
Glenn's launch. In 1964 we moved to Huntsville, Ala. where I was in charge of
the instrumentation for special testing with Vitro Corporation for 2 years. We
then went back to Cocoa Beach (Cape Canaveral) where I worked for General
Electric on the Apollo program. During this time I was directly involved with
all the manned Apollo's. G.E. then transferred me to Washington, D.C.
area. During my tenure with GE in Washington I resolved complex technical
issues for the Department of Defense by leveraging the latest information
systems technology. I had extensive experience leading government and industry
partnerships focused on maturing and applying technology, operations concepts,
tactics, techniques and procedures to solve national security problems.
I met my wife (Nancy Ballinger) in Cocoa Beach, Florida where she was teaching
6th grade. We were married August 20, 1960. Nancy was from Greensboro, North
Carolina and she received her Masters in Education from the University of North
Carolina-Greensboro. We have one son (Jason B.) born Nov. 11, 1965 and
identical twin girls (Janna M. & Julia C.) born April 5, 1970. Jason
graduated from George Mason University with a degree in English (May 1991). He
worked some in Los Angeles CA. Jason returned to George Mason University and
graduated with a Masters in Business Administration (May 1997). He is now
working in Alexandria, VA. Janna graduated from Duke University with an English
Degree (May 1992) and Masters in Education (May 1993). She taught
English at Creekside High school outside of Atlanta, GA. Janna then moved
to Boston, MA where she received a Ph. D. in Curriculum and
Instruction at Boston College. She is now an assistant professor of
curriculum and instruction at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Janna published a book in August 2007 titled Unmasking Identities. Janna
married Carrie Pitzi, who is a senior project manager for Mass
Health, in 2004. Julia graduated from Duke University with an
Electrical Engineering Degree (May 1992) and Masters in Electrical Engineering
(University of Pennsylvania Aug. 1995). She worked for Lockheed Martin Co. at
Valley Forge, Pa where she met her husband, Nadim Nakhleh, who is also an
engineer for Lockheed Martin Co. Julia and Nadim had my first
granddaughter, Alea C. Nakhleh Jan. 22, 2007.
I retired in November 1991 from General Electric and feel that I have been fortunate to have worked in engineering for 33 years during a time of tremendous progress and great accomplishments in the space program!
After I retired in 1991 I opened a small Internet business "Missiles, Space and Rockets Used Books". I closed the business December 2003. It did not make much money but was interesting and I made several good friends.
In 2004 I sold the house, moved to an independent living facility (Stratford Court, 45 Katherine Blvd. #609, Palm Harbor, FL, 34684, phone 727-787-0609).
My two main hobbies now
are computers and enjoying life.
Last update February 25, 2008 previous update January 4, 2005 .
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Pictures of the Jackson family.
Jackson Genealogy - Descendants of Samuel Jackson crica 1750
Ballinger Genealogy - Descendants of Henry(Henri?) Ballinger born 1660 Benninghamshire England
Kyle Genealogy - Descendants of James Kyle Sr. born Northern Ireland crica 1650
How to contact Richard Jackson: Jackson@usedspacebooks.com