GEORGE JACKSON, JR. Obituary

George Covert Jackson, Jr passed away May 12, 2025 in his home with his family, at the age of 74 after many years of valiantly fighting a rare cancer.
"Are you from around here?" This is a question you may have been asked by George Jackson had you been visiting Columbia State Park on any given day in the past four years. He loved spending hours retelling stories about the blue bird of death, the fumbled robbery at the Brady Store, and any number of family stories surrounding his many relatives during the 1800's and the gold rush. He would show visitors coins collected by his great-uncles who owned the iconic Brady building in downtown Columbia. He shared artifacts he found as a child playing around town. And he showed off maps and photos of buildings and scenes from the area to educate volunteers and visitors of the local history they were privileged to experience.
George was born June 17, 1950, to George, Sr. and Mary Jackson of Columbia, California. He was born at the Columbia Way Hospital. He was part of Irish triplets and raised with seven siblings. Columbia was the Jackson siblings' playground and there was not a nook/cranny they didn't explore growing up. George lived his entire life in Tuolumne County and was extremely proud to be part of its history.
He attended Columbia Elementary School, graduated from Sonora Union High School in 1968 and was one of the very first graduates of the new Columbia Junior College.
He began working, at the age of 13 years old, doing landscaping and yardwork for many of the local homeowners in the Columbia area. He spent plenty of his hard-earned cash at the Columbia Frosty eating hero sandwiches, hamburgers, fries and milkshakes. He was able to save $500 to buy a "pea green" 1959 Biscayne car. During his high school years, he worked as one of the stagecoach drivers/robbers in Columbia State Park for Zane Orr. Little did he know, one day he would help an eight-year-old girl off the stage that 13 years later would become his wife! After high school, he worked as a lab tech for Flintkote, the now closed lime kiln located in Sonora.
During his college years, he spent off-hours with his close friends Jack Botfield, Frank Straws, Dave and Scott Wallace, and Jim Roberts. They worked on cars, caused mischief, and drove around looking for the ever elusive "wild women" that might be roaming the county. The stories were endless, and he loved telling them to his family and friends. Typical stories included him taking a roundtrip to Nevada to see off a friend heading to the Vietnam war and returning home the same day to complete his college final. Driving to Sheep Ranch or Twain Harte to attend "Okie stomps" (dances) and dragging McHenry Ave in Modesto being the 'cool' guys from the mountains were all part of George's life.
He worked for 47 years in the asbestos mining industry beginning in the lab at California Asbestos Monofill, and he was the
very last employee on site in 2014. After retirement, he began his long love of genealogy and spent hundreds of hours researching letters, journals, and the internet for relatives back to the 1300's in Ireland and England.
He met the love of his life, Carol DeLapp, in 1977 and married her in 1979. They lived in the only house they ever purchased in Tuolumne County until his death. Together they had two wonderful children, Jessica and Brady. George coached baseball and soccer and took trips to the snow and lakes. He taught his children to fish, and he taught them to appreciate the wonderful place they lived. He taught them how fortunate they were to live in Tuolumne County. He was extremely proud of both his children, of the parents and spouses they grew up to be, and who they had each become.
In 2023, George was officially dubbed an "old timer" and was honored to take part in the Oral Family History Project for Columbia College. He proudly recounted the Jackson and Brady family history for historians. He donated his expertise to the Tuolumne County Carlo De Ferrari Archive to assure the preservation of local history for future generations.
To know George was to know the best of Columbia and of the motherlode. He shared his love of local people and places freely, and he always made time to talk to friendly faces on a walk. He will be loved and missed dearly, and he will always be remembered as the husband, father, grandfather, old-timer, and child of the gold country he was destined to be.
George is survived by his wife of 45 years, Carol Jackson, brothers Mickey, Jeff and Russ, his daughter Jessica Mathews (Bryon) of Jamestown and Brady Jackson (Adrianne) of Torrance. He has five grandchildren: Aeri and Evie Mathews, Graham, Emmett, and Calvin Jackson. George will be missed by his many nieces and nephews and great-nieces and nephews.
George was predeceased by his father George Jackson, Sr in 1987, mother Mary Jackson in 2008, brothers Timothy in 2014. Gregory in 2016, brother-in-law Jim Hockett in 2016, sister Jan in 2017 and Berna in 2025 all of Columbia.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Tuolumne County Carlo De Ferrari Archive and remember your family history. Your children and grandchildren will cherish it.