Walter “Neil” Jackson was born in London, England in 1931. After completing school he joined the British Army and spent 3 years in North Africa and Malta. He returned to London and worked for the London city council but the itch to travel won and he decided to answer the call for immigrants to Canada. He chose Vanderhoof as his destination and soon fell in love with the country, the people and his future wife, Margaret. They married in 1958 and after 14 years and 3 kids they made the move to Fort St James in 1971. Their 4th child was born in Fort St James and Neil worked for Takla Logging/Canfor while Margaret operated a commercial greenhouse. In 1984 Margaret passed away and Neil focused his attention on raising Chris, the youngest child. Neil continued to operate the greenhouse and between that, his huge garden and the endless wood working projects he kept very busy. Throughout the years, Neil supported a variety of community endeavours but his greatest joy came from distributing large quantities of fresh vegetables to the local food bank, women’s shelter and anyone that came to visit. Neil passed away in the hospital on May 13th after a very short illness. He will be greatly missed by his sister Stella, his children - Richard (Maureen), Andrew (Laurie), Lynn (Harry), Chris (Priya), his 5 grandchildren, one great-grandson, nieces, nephews and an amazing group of wonderful friends who have shared his life.