Dean Dunsmoor Jackson, longtime Panton dairy farmer, and an agricultural leader died July 29, 2016, at his Panton ancestral home, Roads-End Farm.
Dean was a sixth generation Jackson to farm on the family farm in Panton. He was born in the farmhouse on August 2, 1916, the youngest child of Ara C. and Lora Clark Jackson.
He attended the one-room school in East Panton through the eighth grade, and attended Vergennes High School for two years. Leaving high school, he worked on the family farm with his parents.
In 1940 he married Alberta Sprague and together they helped his parents operate the farm, until Ara’s death in 1959. Dean continued to operate the farm where over the years together with his family he bred and developed under the Roads-End prefix one of the outstanding herds of Registered Holstein cattle in the area.
He served as president of the Addison County Artificial Breeders Association and the Addison County Dairy Herd Improvement Association.
For twenty-five years he was a member of the Holstein Sire Committee representing District Seven of the New York Artificial Breeders Cooperative, and its successor Eastern Artificial Insemination Cooperative.
From 1962-1967 he served as a director on the Addison County Fair and Field Days board of directors. He and his family were instrumental in starting what became the yearly dairy cattle show, which grew to become one of the largest, and one of the best in the Green Mountain State.
Thirty-three years of service were spent on the board of directors of the Co-Operative Insurance Company in Middlebury. Twenty-nine of those years were served as vice-president of the Rural Company Division of Co-Op Insurance.
In the 1950s he was Master of Grand View Grange 316 in Addison.
He was a76 year member of the Addison Community Baptist Church where he served as trustee and moderator.
Fifty-nine years of service were given to his beloved Town of Panton. During these years he served as auditor for twenty years, as lister for forty-four years, and town moderator for eighteen years.
Survivors include his wife of 76 years, Alberta; daughter Bessie A. Sessions of Ferrisburgh; daughter Janice L. Jackson of Vergennes, son Roger D. Jackson of Hinesville, Georgia; son Richard and wife Jeanne of Panton; grandson Stephen R. Jackson and wife Dianne of Ferrisburgh; twin granddaughters Betsey O. and Sarah L. Sessions of South Burlington, Audrey Jackson of Hermon, Maine; great-grandchildren Andrew, Kristine and Anne Jackson of Ferrisburgh, and Madalyn Jackson of Hermon; and niece Helen J. Bigelow and husband Cleon of Middlebury. He is further survived by great nieces and great nephews. He was predeceased by his only sibling Walter in 1965, great-grandson Eric, son-in-law Wendell H. Sessions, and nephews Ara Jackson and George Jackson
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, August 3, 2106 at 1 pm in the Addison Community Baptist Church. Interment will follow in Prospect Cemetery in Vergennes. There will be no visiting hours.
Those who wish may make contributions in his memory to the Addison Community Baptist Church in care of: Mrs. Janet C. Clark, 3968 VT Route 22A Vergennes, Vermont 05491.
