Pasco’s first black mayor was ‘liaison’ during time of racial strife

A Pasco man who worked to ease racial tensions in the Tri-Cities during the civil rights movement and later served as the city’s first black mayor has died.

Joe Jackson, 84, died Saturday from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to family.

“We’ll miss him. We’re very proud of what he stood for without ever backing down, regardless of what anybody else thought or did,” said sister-in-law Ruth Jackson. “He was true to himself and to the people of Pasco, and for that I’m very proud to say that he was my brother-in-law.”

Joe Jackson is survived by his daughter, Pamela, who lives in San Francisco, his younger brother Webster and wife Ruth of Pasco, and a “host of nieces and nephews.”

Jackson, a longtime Pasco resident, first joined the Pasco City Council in 1981. Two years later, he was elected to his first of two terms as mayor.

He was on the council for a total 22 years, with a break from 1992 to 1996. He lost his re-election bid in 2007, and after that decided to fully enjoy retired life.

Councilman Al Yenney, who’s represented east Pasco for the past 10 years, said his predecessor was always a gentleman and very compassionate about the city of Pasco.

“I have nothing but great respect for Joe. He served the public well,” Yenney said. “The whole Jackson family has always been part of the face of Pasco, so he will be missed.”

In 1948, when the family moved to the Tri-Cities, blacks were only allowed to live in Pasco and it had to be east of the railroad tracks. Jackson then was a young teen boy.

He went on to enlist in the Navy, followed by a four-decade career as an engineer for several Hanford contractors in mechanical engineering and design and supervision and management. He retired in 1996.

Jackson also earned an associate’s degree from Columbia Basin College and a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Washington University in Cheney. He later was appointed to Eastern’s board of trustees, serving for 17 years.

During the racial strife of the 1960s, Jackson tried “to be a liaison for everybody” in the Tri-Cities, said Ruth Jackson.

“He was trying to make everyone see on both sides that peace and talking and understanding was better than burning up a building,” she said.

“He would always put Pasco first,” added Webster Jackson, who worked for Pasco for more than 30 years, retiring in June 2006 as administrative services director.

That same year, the Jackson brothers were selected as grand marshals for Pasco’s Grand Old Fourth of July parade.

Joe Jackson was excited by Pasco’s growth over the years and even owned a few homes throughout the city, his family said. But he continued to live in the Douglas Avenue home where his parents first settled in east Pasco.

His family described him as a humble man who took pride in what he did without the need to flaunt it.

He was a role model for all young men, not just African Americans, and spoke highly of his fellow Pasco residents and always had something good to say about others, the family said.

“Joe was not a man that talked a lot, but was worth listening to when he did, especially because he was very wise, educated and articulate,” Ruth Jackson said.

A memorial service with military honors is at 1 p.m. Friday at Morning Star Baptist Church, 631 S. Douglas Ave.

This story was originally published October 8, 2017 at 6:24 PM with the headline "Pasco’s first black mayor was ‘liaison’ during time of racial strife."