Eugene “Gene” Golden Jackman, Orem, Utah, passed away peacefully and surrounded by his loving family at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, Provo, Utah on Tuesday, July 26th, 2022 from Congestive Heart Failure. He was 88 years old.
Gene was born on January 3rd, 1934, in The LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah to Golden Leon Jackman and Teton Mattie Hanks Jackman.He is the middle son of six children, Elden, Nolan, LeGrand, Flora, and Alona.
He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was active in Boy Scouts.
As a young boy, he lived with his family in Widstoe, Utah, lived in and went to school in Salem, Mapleton, and Provo, Utah. In Salem, they lived by Salem Pond, where his dad took him fishing, a lot. He helped his dad with renting boats at the pond. His family lived in Provo in a home where The Marriott Center now stands. They raised over 100 rabbits and sold the rabbit pelts.He attended Provo High School and Lincoln High School in Orem.
He graduated from Lincoln High School Class of 1954.
His dad taught him First Aid at a young age. He used these survival skills to preserve lives. He became a volunteer firefighter for Provo City. He fought fires alongside his father. His mother taught him natural remedies and a healthy lifestyle.
On August 20th, 1954, he married Zola Dickey in Orem, Utah. In that same year, he began working for The Geneva Steel Plant, in Vineyard, Utah. His dad helped build Geneva in 1944, during World War II. Gene worked in the blast furnace and rolling mills. He worked for his Uncle Darwin Jackman as a Yellow Cab Driver in Provo. He furthered his education at the Vocational School in Provo.
Gene and Zola had three children, Norene, Tina, and Bret. They were later divorced.
Gene married the love of his life, Helen Adell Peterson on May 7th, 1966 in Orem, Utah. They had John and Adam.
As a hard and dedicated worker, Gene continued to work at Geneva Steel, until they closed in 2001. He retired after 32 years of service. He assisted with the demolition of The Geneva Steel Plant.
He worked for the Labor Union. He worked for Chevron Oil Refinery in Bountiful for 10 years. He became HAZMAT Certified, assisting with the safety of workers and extinguishing fires.
He went to work for UDOT on the FrontRunner Project. He was Point of Contact at the tracks for Union Pacific Railroad and Utah Transit Authority. He retired when the Provo FrontRunner Station was completed on December 10th, 2012, just before his 80th birthday.
He was recognized by Provo Fire Captain Sam Armstrong and Utah Valley Wound Care and Hyperbarics in Provo for his participation as a patient and former firefighter.
Together, with his wife, Helen, they loved supporting their family in academic and religious achievements, plays, concerts, sports, and recreational events. They were well-known and loved as the grandpa and grandma who would cheer on the teams. Gene ‘always’ cheered on both teams.
All of his life, he has been an explorer. In true Pioneer Spirit, he loved to take his family exploring caves, ghost towns, hunting, fishing, boating, enjoying beautiful nature, rock hounding, race cars, motorcycling/ATV riding, camping, water, mud, and snow sports, and building campfires, family dinners and reunions, going dancing, roller skating, John Wayne and other cowboy movies, old trains, and ‘livin’ the cowboy way’.
He encouraged us all to build strong families by going out at night and building a fire together.
His favorite meal was homemade bread and milk with honey. He loves Lemon Meringue Pie and his mother’s homemade ice cream.
The best place to find him and Helen and the family would be camping at Little Moab – Third Rock from the Sun, or Levan, or at the SCERA Theater and outdoor concerts.
Gene says, “I’ve hiked all of these mountains in Utah Valley, clear to the top”. As a wise old white-bearded prospector, he knew where the gold was. With a twinkle in his eyes, he would say, “The Treasure is in the Search!”
You may have been a recipient of a surprise load of firewood that he had cut, chopped, loaded, and hauled to your front porch.
He has a pleasing personality and a zest for life. If he knew a boy was troubled, he would give him a harmonica. If there was a celebration or just cuz he liked you, he would give you a pocket knife, even if it was his very own.
He would get up every morning about 7:00 am so he could wave and say, “Hi!” to the joggers and those who walked past their home, with Kia being his side-kick Border Collie by his side.
He often quoted William Butler Yeats, “There are no strangers; only friends you haven’t met, yet”.
About worry: “Remember, today is the tomorrow we worried about, yesterday.” Dale Carnegie, his advice to all was, “Don’t get old!” His view of life: “WOW!”
Gene is survived by his wife, Helen; sisters, Flora (Doug) Harrington, and Alona (Ed) Veatch. His 5 children: Norene Jackman (Chris) Jensen, Tina Jackman, Bret (Tiffani Ellison) Jackman, and Adam Jackman, 33 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren.
He is preceded in death by his parents, his brothers Elden and his wife LaDawn (Tolman) Jackman, Nolan and his wife Carol (Bell) Jackman, LeGrand (Judy Parker) Jackman, his son, John Jackman and brother-in-law Ed (Alona) Veatch.
The Family wishes to thank the angels in Gene’s life, including Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and Applegate Home Health and Hospice.
His funeral will be held on Saturday, August 6th, 2022, at 11:00 am at the Sharon 5th Ward Church, 545 South 800 East in Orem, Utah.
A viewing and gathering will be held on Friday, August 5th, 2022, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm at Walker-Sanderson Mortuary, 646 East 800 North, Orem and Saturday, August 6th, prior to the funeral from 9:30 am – 10:30 am at The Sharon 5th Ward Church. Interment is at Salem City Cemetery, 965 South 140 East, Salem, Utah.
His funeral is under the direction of Walker-Sanderson Mortuary.
It will be live streaming as well as the slideshow available at www.walkersanderson.com
