Raymond Lewis Jackson was born on April 13, 1948, in Twin Falls, Idaho, to his parents Norman & Opal Jackson.  When he was born, his father was working on a ranch in Idaho.  When Raymond was very young, his father took a job in the oil fields of north Texas and moved the family to Iowa Park, Texas, which is near where his father and mother grew up. 

 He met his wife Phyllis Jackson in 1966 at Lee College in Cleveland, Tennessee.  When they met, Phyllis and Raymond were both freshman at the college. Lee College is affiliated with the Church of God, which is the denomination in which Phyllis and he were both raised and affiliated.  They dropped out of college to get married in 1967 and moved to Texas. 

 Raymond was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1969.  When he was discharged from the Army in 1971, Raymond and Phyllis travelled from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he was last stationed, to Opelika, Alabama, where Phyllis’ parents Rev. W.H. & Pauline Morrison lived.  While visiting with his in laws, his father-in-law W.H. Morrison suggested that Raymond apply for work at the Uniroyal tire factory in Opelika.  When he was offered a job at the tire factory, Raymond and Phyllis decided to settle down first in Beauregard, Alabama, and then in 1977 moved to their longtime home in Smiths Station.  While working full time at Uniroyal, Raymond went back to college and graduated with a business degree from Troy University in 1980. 

 After Uniroyal had a massive layoff in 1982, Raymond took a job as an insurance salesman for Liberty National Life Insurance Company.  He spent 25 years working for this company.  He won many sales awards, including over a dozen trips and cruises, during his time with Liberty National. He worked very hard, and he was a good provider for his family.   

Raymond and Phyllis had two children.  Their daughter Kandy Gibson is married to Rhett Gibson, and she and Rhett have two children:  Reagan and Victoria.  Their son Raymond Jackson, Jr. has one child: Caroline.  Raymond was very proud of his two children and his three granddaughters.  

Raymond passed away on June 14, 2022, after suffering from Lewy-Body Dementia for several years.  He is survived by his wife Phyllis, his children, and three grandchildren.  He is also survived by his sister Carmen Cunningham of Macon, Georgia; by his brother Norman Jackson of San Antonio, Texas; and by his half-sister Shirley Case of Iowa Park, Texas.  He is predeceased by his parents Norman & Opal Jackson, his mother-in-law and father-in-law, and by three older half-sisters.