Kent Allan Jackson, 76, of Columbia City, died at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at his home in the company of family.

He was born on March 9, 1944, in Fort Wayne, a son of the late Harold E. and Marilyn (Lower) Jackson. His formative years were spent in Columbia Township, where he graduated from Columbia City Joint High School in 1962.

Kent joined the U.S. Air Force on Jan. 6, 1965 where he studied for and served as a specialty carpenter. He was honorably discharged on Oct. 16, 1968 after which he served in the reserves until January 1971.

He worked for General Electric, Fort Wayne as a boiler fireman with 38 years of service.

On May 30, 1969, he was united in marriage to Donna L. Wolfcale. They made their first home in Bluffton until 1972 when they moved to Columbia City, moving to the present home in 1992. Donna died on Nov. 18, 2017.

An avid golfer, he was a member of the Clear Creek Golf Course. Active in the Masons, he belonged to the Masonic Blue Lodge, Columbia City, where he was a Past Master and the Mizpah Shrine, where he participated in driving patients to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Chicago. During the summer months, he liked to tend his vegetable garden. In the fall and winter, he delighted in watching the Purdue Boilermakers games.

Kent is survived by a son, Todd M. (Karen) Jackson, Plainfield, and a daughter, Ann D. (Joseph) Livingstone of Uxbridge, Mass.; six grandchildren, and a sister, Marold Farber, Columbia City.

A private family funeral service will be held at the Eberhard Lutheran Church.  Burial is at the Eberhard cemetery. A Celebration of Life will be held after the Coronavirus restrictions are lifted. Arrangements were entrusted to Smith and Sons Funeral Home, Columbia City.

Preferred memorials are to Shriners Hospitals for Children.