July 15 (Autumn) Template Page1

Neil Jackson (FS 43-46).
The following is an edited version of the eulogy read at his funeral by his daughter Susan.
“The best way to describe dad is that he was a true ‘gentleman’, one of the old school but one with a waspish sense of humour. He was born in Manchester on 10th December 1928 to parents Frances and Leslie Jackson. Leslie, an engineer, worked as an Area Sales Manager for an engineering firm while Frances looked after the home. Dad lived and went to school in Manchester before heading at the age of 14 to boarding school at St Bees in Cumbria. At school he was a keen rugby and cricket player as well as enjoying 1500m track running, which he kept going whilst in the army.
As soon as he was 18 he was drafted into the army where he spent just under two years, much of this time was in Germany. He then headed off to Leeds University where he was rewarded with a first class honours degree. He stayed on to do his PHD. He never said, but I am sure he was very proud of the fact that he was awarded the highest mark in the PHD class, and his name is engraved on the board in the Engineering Department at Leeds University. Whilst there, he also played for Ilkley rugby club. Dad met mum whilst at university and they married in 1954. Following a short period in Newcastle they settled in Dundee in 1957 when he started his academic career at Dundee University, where he became a senior lecturer in Civil Engineering. After two years in Thailand we moved back to Dundee in 1967 and dad returned to academic life at the university. In 1976 he became an editor of a book called ‘Civil Engineering Materials’. It was used widely by universities and the fifth and final edition was published in 1996, twenty years later. Playing Bridge played a large part in my parents’ social lives in Dundee. Before Dad went abroad to Dubai in 1977 they went regularly to the University Bridge Club and the Invergowrie Bridge Club. He was also a keen table-tennis and tennis player at Broughty Ferry, where my father was also a member of the tennis club committee for a number of years. One member once commented to me that dad was a ‘calming influence’ on the committee. Around 1977, ten years after returning to Dundee, he moved back abroad to work for around twenty years, firstly in the commercial world in Dubai and Saudi Arabia and then in Oman where he returned to the academia at Sultan Quaboos University in Oman. While there Dad became the Head of Department of Civil Engineering. In 1997 he was offered the post of Dean of the Engineering Department but instead chose to retire; he was after all 69 years of age. After retiring, my parents returned to life back in Broughty Ferry. Dad was pretty fit and was still playing tennis at age 77 but eventually age took its toll on his body, yet he was still playing bridge just before he went in to hospital five weeks before he passed away. When it became difficult for mum to walk and she eventually became wheelchair bound, dad was always there for mum loyally pushing her wheelchair everywhere. He cared for mum unselfishly even when he himself was very tired and finding it difficult to walk. He never complained. I will finish by just saying, thank you dad for being a caring and loving father and for being there for us throughout our lives. We will all miss you.”