Clifford Jackson, age 62, of Savage, MN, passed unexpectedly at his home on Saturday, August 6, 2022.
A gathering will be held to celebrate Clifford’s life on Friday, August 12, 2022, from 1-3 pm, at Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation, 4565 Pleasant Street SE, Prior Lake.
Clifford Leland was born on January 5, 1960, in Pierre, South Dakota to Howard and Sharon (Johnson) Jackson. He graduated from Riggs High School in 1978 and moved to Minnesota. He met his future wife, Vicki, at Classics Motor Company bar in St. Louis Park MN, getting her number after asking her to dance. She had a four-year-old daughter, Leah, whom he adored as soon as they met. Shortly after that, they chose someone at random from the phonebook to marry them who was also willing to rebelliously sneak into the Arboretum for them to elope on October 5 , 1985. He adopted his beloved daughter, Leah, within the year and was blessed with another daughter, Rachael .
Although He and Vicki eventually parted ways, he remained a loving father and grandfather who was always willing to help in whatever way he could.
He attended some classes at Normandale Community College while maintaining various jobs. Coding and IT technical assistance were his specialties, even without a degree. He began working for Cargill in the IT department, where he easily solved complex technical issues and climbed the ranks within the company. In the final years of his life before retirement, he changed jobs to Wilson-McShane. The work came easily to him, providing spare time where he could apply himself to various projects, such as crafting highly detailed gaming paraphernalia to make family Hero Quest gaming nights even more special. Beginning January 2022, he finally retired to pursue his interests and spend time with his family.
Some treasured memories include: Football on the weekends where he would cheer against the Vikings so loud it was startling (yelling PIECE-OF-S@#* whenever their quarterback came on the screen) even though he secretly wanted them to win; Texas Hold ‘Em Poker games where you could never quite tell if he was bluffing or not; gaming nights of Hero Quest where he would be the DM and show off all of his detailed game pieces he assembled at work and home; hunting pheasants in South Dakota with his family; taking walks with Brandon and Cody to the Purple Park and spending hours there playing; always having miniature Reese’s or gold chocolate coins for the kids in his bottomless coat pockets (or pants pockets where they would get a little melty); gaming nights shooting at endless swarms of ridiculously giant bugs to help him earn achievements on what was arguably one of the worst games ever created; Halo gaming nights with the family where he would complain about the controller mechanics (his character was always either looking at his toes or the sky spinning around); Diablo where we could all play online as a family no matter where we were in the states; His big teddy bear hugs and ‘The Belly Claw’ that will be greatly missed; most of all his willingness to help no matter when or where or what because he loved his kids and grandkids more than anything.
Forever loved and forever missed by daughters, Leah Abbas, Rachael Wolff; grandchildren, Brandon Abbas, Cody Abbas, Emmett Wolff, Olivia Wolff, Ana Wolff; mother, Sharon Sauer; father, Howard Jackson: siblings, Liz Jackson, Rick (Renee) Jackson; other relatives and friends .
Greeting Clifford home in Heaven is his stepfather, Harold Sauer, at a poker table all set and ready for a game.
