Richard Craig Jackson

Cochran Funeral Home and Crematory of Blairsville announces memorial services for Richard Craig Jackson, who was born to Alice Marie Bowles Jackson and William Taylor Jackson in Luling, Texas, on August 1, 1935 and passed from this life on June 6, 2016 at age 80. Craig's father was an oil field "roughneck" and the family moved around Texas before settling in Bishop, Texas in 1946. Craig attended public school from the fifth grade through graduation from Bishop High School in 1953. He attended Texas A & M. College and then served in the U.S. Army's 11th and 82nd Airborne Divisions before honorable discharge from the U.S. Army Reserves in 1962. He began working with Eastern Air Lines in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1956. Craig and his first wife Martha had four daughters, and the family relocated to Miami, Florida in 1966, when Craig was promoted to management at Eastern's Corporate Headquarters; he held various management jobs in Miami, Atlanta and Daytona Beach. He was employed with Eastern for 35 years, retiring in Daytona Beach when Eastern ceased operations in 1991. Craig married Raelynn Coake Lewis while working in management at the Volusia County Daytona Beach International Airport. After retiring, Craig and Raelynn moved from Florida to Blairsville, Georgia.

Craig was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife, Raelynn; daughters: Tammey Jackson, Debra MacLeod, Charlotte Brunelle, and Barbara Bissonnette; three step daughters; several grandchildren, and former wife, Martha Prestipino. Craig was a Christian and baptized in the Baptist, Catholic and Lutheran faiths. His remains will be interred in Luling, Texas, in the Bowles family plot in Highsmith Cemetery. A memorial service will be held in the Chapel of Cochran Funeral Home of Blairsville on Saturday, June 11, 2016 at 11:00 a.m., with Rev. David Shearrow officiating. The family will meet with friends for one hour prior to the memorial service at the funeral home. Military honors will be presented by North Georgia Honor Guard, and U.S. Army Honor Guard.

If you wish to do so, memorial contributions may be directed to Blairsville Humane Society, 129 Bowling Gap Circle, Blairsville, GA 30512; or to Homestead Hospice, 97 Deep South Farm Road, Unit #2, Blairsville, GA 30512.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Cochran Funeral Home and Crematory of Blairsville. Please share your condolences with the family on our website, www.cochranfuneralhomes.com.