Ronald Ray Jackson was born in Pontiac, Michigan on July 23, 1946. In high school, he was well known for being the star of the football, basketball, and track teams and for being his class president. After high school, Ron went to Detroit Bible College, where he first felt the call to ministry. He put himself through college working at General Motors. He traveled the country on weekends, singing in churches with a group of college students. While in college, he married Kathy Swain. Next he moved to Chicago and began working at a tiny church, where he bought some pool and ping pong tables and turned the church into a place where the youth of the neighborhood would come after school to talk, play, and hear about Jesus. The young people who came, came back and brought their friends, who also came back and brought their friends. He then moved to a largerbut still smallcountry church in rural Michigan, which he grew from about 50 people to 400. During these years, he and Kathy had 5 children. In 1989, Ron and his family moved to Oklahoma. After working at a few other jobs, Ron became a teacher for the Oklahoma City Public School system, where he was quickly promoted to principal and then District Superintendent for the Kellyville Public School System. During all this time, Ron taught the Bereans Sunday School Class. This was a natural extension of his favorite activityreading and studying his Bible. After retiring from public education in 2008, Ron got back to doing what he really lovedserving in the ministry. He served Putnam City Baptist Church, providing pastoral care. He visited and comforted hundreds of sick, injured, and grieving people. He also headed up PCBCs "Pioneers" Ministry to the churchs seniors and served at the Grace Rescue Mission in the OKC Stockyards. At Grace, or "the mission," he was loved for his mix of hard-hitting preaching and compassionate concern for those who came there. Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Ray and Ena, and his son, Ron Jr. He is survived by his wife, Kathy; children, Kim, Matt, Becky, and Jerimiah; grandchildren, Dillon, Cody, Brooke, Grace, Hanna, Caleb, Sammy, and Jackson; and great-grandchildren, Asher and Micah. While he seemed to spend all his days at hospitals or in church, he also loved spending time with his family, working in his garden, riding his bike around Lake Hefner, traveling, hiking, and taking long walks with anyone he could find. Friends and family remember Ron having an unequaled zest for life, finding joy and excitement in moments great and small. He loved telling a storyat least oncewatching a good football game, crime drama, or Fox news report, reading any sign or plaque in any museum or monument, trying new foods (the more unusual the better!), sitting by a fire, or reading his Bible while holding a fistful of highlighters and pens. Memorial Service Saturday, May 14, 2016 01:00 PM Putnam City Baptist Church 11401 N. Rockwell Oklahoma City, OK 73162