Wilfred “Fred” Fredrick Jackson

Fred was born on January 14, 1946 at the family farm in Ingelow, Manitoba to Vernon Lionel and Mary Patricia Elizabeth (nee Chalmers) Jackson. He was the seventh of eight children.

The family moved to the present homestead in 1951 when Fred was 5, and it is there that his love of farming cattle and sheep continually grew.

Fred's primary years in school were spread between Ingelow, Carberry and Douglas due to catchment areas being changed and the family farm being on a division line. He went on to high school in Brandon until he turned 18 and started working for the three IGA stores in Brandon.

Following his father's passing, Fred quit his job at IGA to take over running his family farm in January 1972. He worked various other jobs over the years while maintaining the farm, including working for Frank Jones, Russell Muirhead, Bar 5, driving a school bus and running a dairy from 1986-1997 and then Manitoba Hydro from 1997 until he retired in January of 2019 to return to full time farming.

He met his wife of 37 years, Cindy, while curling in Douglas in February of 1982. They married in October of the same year and welcomed their oldest son, Matthew, the following March. Then came Cody in April 1985 and Katherine in September 1986. Then finally after a decade of trying for just one more welcomed Corri in April 1997. A few years later the first of 9 grandchildren, Ethan, was born in February 2003, followed by Dawson, Abigale, Addison, Keira, Shelby, Hadley, Mallory and Blake. He got to see all his babies have babies.

Fred spent a good portion of his life volunteering on various projects and boards within our community including the museum board, the Douglas and Carberry rinks, the Carberry and Area Community Foundation, Evergreen Recycling, Westman Traditional Christmas Dinner, Carberry Elks, and 4-H Beef Club. His passion for the area in which he lived eventually led him to become the Ward 3 Municipal Councillor for the RM of North Cypress-Langford from 2002-2010 and 2014 until his passing. If there was any way he could help, he was there with bells on.

Fred taught his family the value of a hard day’s work, but never failed to show them the importance having fun too. The Jackson clan spent many hours over the years sitting around the table playing board games. There were night checks wagered over games of backgammon, the never-ending pursuit of trying to beat Dad at Chess, and of course the infamous game of Stock Ticker that lasted an entire winter of after chores hours.

Encouraging his children and grandchildren to pursue hobbies and activities brought Fred a ton of joy over the years. He often spoke of the time he spent coaching kids in baseball, curling and showing cattle. He rarely missed a concert, tournament, bonspiel, rodeo or 4-H event his family was involved in, even when his kids were well into adulthood. Seeing his family happy was his greatest joy.

Fred never lost his child-like love of cartoons. His children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews all recall fondly the Saturday mornings watching Bugs Bunny and Sunday evenings with The Wonderful World of Disney. We never were sure who was more excited to go to Disneyland, Fred or Corri.

Fred will forever be remembered as being a kind, honest, patient and generous man. He was full of wit, wisdom and knowledge, which he passed on to anyone who asked. He would drop everything to help anyone in need but expect nothing in return, even if it was just for one of his world famous bear hugs or one of his truly terrible "Dad" jokes executed with perfectly timed dry humor to put a smile on your face.

Fred was pre-deceased by his parents Vernon and Patricia, sister Marion, grandson Ethan, brothers-in-law Leonard, Ed, Bill, John and Kelly, nephews Leslie and Lenny, and great niece Paige. He will be lovingly remembered by his wife Cindy; son Matthew (Renee) Jackson and grandchildren Addison, Keira and Hadley; son Cody (Becky) Jackson and grandchildren Dawson and Abbie; daughter Kate (Nathan) Kowbel and grandchildren Shelby and Blake; daughter Corri Jackson (Jeremy Hodgins) and grandchild Mallory; as well as many kids "adopted" over the years. He also leaves behind his brother Lionel, sisters Ruth, Carol, Eileen, Marjorie and Myrtle, as well as dozens of nieces and nephews.

He is loved dearly and will be missed terribly by all who knew him, and never ever forgotten.

The Celebration of Fred’s life will take place on Thursday, October 24, 2019 at 1:00 pm at the Carberry Community Memorial Hall, 224 Second Avenue, Carberry, Manitoba.