Ralph Ashley Jackson Jr. (“Junior, Scrub, Moose”), of Stites, passed away Wednesday, July 21, 2021. As per his wishes, he died at home surrounded by family.
Ralph was born April 7, 1939, in a log cabin across Big Cedar Creek near Kooskia. He was delivered by midwife, his sister Gwendolyn Cochran. He gained the family of two sisters and two brothers of Ralph Ashley Jackson Sr. and Zella Leone Lovelock Jackson as the fifth and youngest child.
He married his high school sweetheart, Dixie Lee Steen, Sept. 27, 1958. They were married 62 years. They raised a family of six. There are three girls and three boys in the Stites and Kooskia area.
Ralph was a logger for many years. He instilled his love of the Idaho outdoors in his children. He drove a school bus and was known as a safe, observant driver. He also drove a mail route. Ralph was a city councilman. He knew the names of all mountains, creeks, rivers and back roads in the area. The family joined his brother and family in snowcatting.
When logging, mining, mushrooming, picnicking, huckleberry picking, camping, etc., he was joined by family and friends. He drove around looking at flora and fauna. Ralph and friends walked from the Lochsa River to the mountain before roads were built there. He also rode horses. Ralph enjoyed playing cards, especially cribbage and pinochle. He was known for his Dutch oven cooking and sourdough flapjacks at Jackson’s hunting camp, which he established for family and friends. He was a unique individual.
Ralph is survived by his wife, Dixie, and six children, Marty (Leo) Lytle, Jody (Steve) Brown, Guy (Vickie) Jackson, Mike (Roben) Jackson, LeeAnn (Gary) Mallory and Bill (Serena) Jackson, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
His parents, Ralph Sr. and Zella, along with siblings Gwendolyn Cochran, Evelyn Peterson, Robert and James Jackson, and his grandsons Cody Jackson and Bucky Leach, and many other relatives preceded him in death.
As he wished, there will be no services. There will be a private time of remembrance campout with a covered-dish dinner set for family and lifelong friends Aug. 28 at Wilderness Gateway on U.S. Highway 12. For more information, contact one of Ralph and Dixie’s children and/or other family members.
