Jerome Jackson’s Funeral Cost

So after everything so far I’m left with a balance of $6000 still left to pay. Between the headstone and funeral fees. My cousin covered the cost for the burial and casket. Thank you to everyone who came to the services.

My father recently passed, December 9th. The funeral and burial with head stone is approximately $13,000.00 he was on SSI Disability and didn’t really have much income or savings. He also had no insurance. This is the first time I’ve personally dealt with a situation like this and to all of you that know me I’m currently living month to month and don’t really have anything saved.  The services will be being held at Sullivan’s family funeral home this Friday from 4pm to 9pm. Please if you can spread the word about my Paraglider for sale or help me share the gofundme link to anyone who can help raise money we can really use the help because I have nothing saved. Thank you for any help. Below is a short bio my cousin Theresa wrote about my Father! Rest In Peace Dad, I’ll miss you!

Jerome Jackson, affectionately known as “Geronimo “, “Jerry” and “JJ”, age 59, loving husband of the late Sharon Jackson, son of the late Arnold Jackson and Evelyne Jackson, father of Taima Jackson, Grandfather of Savannah Jackson, brother of Arnold David Jackson, Jr., Loretta Anne Asher, Yvonne Marie Bulleri, and Michael Jackson, cousin of Terry (Theresa) Johnson and Singrid Jackson and many beloved additional cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces, nephews and other extended family went to heaven on December 9, 2017. Jerry went Home to be with the Lord, just seven weeks after his beloved Aunt Dorothy, who helped raise him as a son and was the solid rock for him all his life, went to heaven on October 21, 2017. Jerry was a major helper and caregiver to his Aunt in the last 2 ½ years of her life.

Jerry was born March 2, 1958 at Frank Cuneo Hospital, Chicago, IL. His childhood was spent in Chicago North side neighborhoods around Devon Avenue, and he spent much of his childhood at his Aunt Dorothys’s and Uncle Sebron’s house, where he was like a pesky little brother to his cousin, Theresa. In the summer of 1969 Jerry’s family moved to Schaumburg, IL.

Jerry was not the school book type, although he was well accomplished at many other things.

In 1980, when Jerry’s mother, Evelyne, went to heaven, Aunt Dorothy came to the apartments where Jerry was living with his sisters and brother, and she stayed with them for a week. She fed them, she prayed for them and she comforted them through the initial grief and shock of losing their 53 year old mother. This experience taught Evelyne’s children for the first time in their lives how much God loved them. They also learned about the power of prayer and the need to be born again.

Several months after Jerry’s mother died, Jerry and his then girlfriend welcomed their son, Taima into the world. Taima (pronounced Tuh-my-uh) was the apple of Jerry’s eye, and Jerry always told us that he wished so much that his mom could have seen and held Taima. He was so very proud of Taima. Jerry followed the childrearing attitudes of his mom and raised Taima with a lot of gentleness. Jerry loved to indulge his “little guy” as he called him, with expensive dirt bikes and other boy toy luxuries, but Jerry never really knew how to administer discipline to his son.

In his twenties, Jerry owned JJ Cleaning Services, and he was able to get various contracts with restaurants for cleaning vent hoods, including famous restaurants such as Au Bain Pain, the Hyatt and many Greek and Italian restaurants. Jerry had many scary and funny stories about getting inside greasy hoods sometimes several stories high and then falling and landing in a vat of caked grease and almost drowning in it. When bigger companies started getting into the hood cleaning business, Jerry’s attention shifted.

About 5 years after Taima’s birth, Jerry met his wife Sharon .Jerry and Sharon spent much of their time involved with ministries to the poor at Temple Calvario in Elgin. They worked together in the soup kitchen where Jerry was the head chef.

In 1985 Jerry got hooked on carpentry as he helped his sister Yvonne and her then husband build their log cabin to replace their house that had been destroyed by fire. Eventually Jerry started working with contractors, and in 1992 he was working in rough carpentry for a builder framing new construction houses. While installing a wall on the second floor, his co-worker was holding the other end of the wall, and suddenly became annoyed by something. The co-worker jerked the wall and, because there were no safety barriers, Jerry plunged from the second floor to the basement, where he initially was thought to be dead. He sustained very serious injuries. Among other things, he broke his pelvis in 3 places, broke his leg and hip and seriously injured his cervical spine and collar bone, It took a long time for him to recuperate, and when he eventually did recuperate, he continued working with carpentry and he had to be involved in pain management, physical therapy rehabilitation.

In around 1995, Sharon and Jerry moved to Colorado where Jerry worked here and there in construction. As hard as he tried, Jerry could not get full time substantial construction work, so to fill in with work, he worked with top chefs who taught him many secret recipes. After 12 years in Colorado, Jerry’s Uncle Armand got him a union carpentry job in Las Vegas where Jerry worked on high rise hotels and casinos. Jerry loved this work, and he often shared how he loved sweating with his shirt off in the hot sun with a big jug of cold water and his tool belt on his hip.

In 2006, Jerry called his wife to let her know that he was heading home from work, but Sharon did not answer. As he pulled into the complex, Jerry suddenly got a very strong feeling that something was wrong. When he arrived home, he found Sharon in the bed, deceased.

After taking time to grieve The loss of Sharon, his wife of 25years, Eventually Jerry returned to work doing construction. Not long after returning to work, in 2007, Jerry reinjured his cervical spine while working on Trump Tower -- a ladder from above him was careening to the ground, and Jerry reached to grab the ladder to prevent the possible injury or death of passersby on the sidewalk.

Not much later, Jerry was T-boned by a car speeding off a ramp, and that shattered his L-5 disk. Jerry had surgery to repair the disk, but the surgeon advised Jerry that the disk shattered, and removed his L-5 disk in its entirety. The surgeon did nothing to stabilize Jerry’s spine – such as a rod or spinal fusion, The doctor then reported in his surgery report that Jerry’s surgery was a success and that Jerry had jumped off the table just fine.

A specialist in Hinsdale told his cousin Theresa that whoever had removed his disk did him a great disservice. Jerry inquired about a fusion and other alternatives. But the doctor advised Theresa that basically Jerry‘s spine is collapsing on top of itself.

This rendered him disabled from permanent work for the remainder of his life. Unable to work, he came to live with his cousin Theresa. Jerry never stopped missing Sharon, and at Aunt Dorothy’s recent funeral he spoke of how losing his Aunt and Mother was so very painful, but that losing his wife was the worst emotional pain that he had ever felt.
Jerry suffered in continual, unrelenting, and excruciating spinal pain most of his life, never regaining his strength and quality of life after the 2007 accident. Jerry did everything he could for everyone. He still helped around the house, he helped cook for family holiday parties, and he was active for many years in church food pantries and bible studies.
Jerry was always fun, funny, and the life of the party. He entertained everyone with jokes and stories about his experiences. Most of all, Jerry loved to share with people about his love for Jesus. Jerry shared the gospel with many people through his love and helpfulness.
Jerry, always counted on the forgiveness and mercy of God. One of his favorite parables of Jesus was the Prodigal Son. His favorite painting is the young man in blue jeans and a T-shirt, passed out from life’s tragedies, being held up from behind by the arms of Jesus. In all Jerome’s brokenness, he never turned bitter against God. He always wanted to talk to everyone about God and knew that all solutions ultimately come from the Lord.
During this life journey with Jerome, there were many tears but, with the generous heart that he had, the fun, and the helpfulness brought many good and funny times. Jerome was a gifted soul, full of love. We are glad he was on this earth because he blessed so many people, despite his own troubles and shortcomings. As several female friends have told me – “He was a true gentleman.”
Jerry’s son, Taima, does not have the financial resources to bury his dad. If you feel that you would like to contribute to Jerome’s funeral fund, please make your donation to Sullivan Family Funeral Home, Hinsdale, Illinois 60521. Thank you for reading about Jerome’s life.

Thank you if you decide to help with Jerome’s funeral expenses. We pray that you are blessed by this little and inadequate summary of this wonderful human being’s life – in his life there is a testimony that even in our sinfulness and imperfection we can still touch others for good. We know his Aunt Dorothy and his mother and father are thrilled to be with him in heaven, and they are rejoicing, praising God, and having the time of their eternal lives.