Dave Jackson used his gifts to better Mequon and Thiensville

By Lisa Curtis - Special to the News Graphic

MEQUON — Let’s face it, the success of any community service group is largely driven by the commitment of its members. The citizen volunteers who spend their nights in meetings, while the rest of us unwind at home. The planners and the thinkers who toil over ideas big and small to improve the world around them.

David Jackson was one of those people who made Mequon and Thiensville better places to live. He did it through his involvement in a broad slate of nonprofits and ad hoc committees. He did it through his generosity. And he did it by just being one of the nicest guys one could meet.

“I don’t think I ever heard him say a bad thing about anybody,” said friend and fellow Rotarian Steve Lettau. “People like that are probably far and few between.”

Jackson died Oct. 4 at the age of 84.

“He had recently had multiple dinners with friends and family, lunches, and even enjoyed a Badger Game with a close friend and grandson. Still driving, still walking, and still using emojis on his phone, he was living life to the absolute best that he could,” his family wrote in his obituary.

Close friend Dave Romoser met Jackson when both were involved with the Community Conversation on the future of Mequon, Thiensville, the school district and the Chamber of Commerce.

They were two of 34 people appointed, Romoser said.

“That’s where I met Dave, and almost immediately said, ‘This is an exceptional human being,’” Romoser said.

In addition to his genuine interest and concern for people, Jackson’s acute listening skills and quiet, deliberative style made him a true asset to any organization or group. He was the last person to speak at a meeting, preferring to hear what others had to say first. And when he did speak, Jackson didn’t use many words.

But they were the right words, Romoser said.

Photo Caption: Hunt attending a chiefs’ meeting; he was given the name “Masilae” when he arrived on the island of Émaé. “‘Silae’ means ‘man who helps’ and ‘Ma’ means ‘chief,’ so technically I am a chief on the island,” he explains.

by Diana Schoberg

In December 2017, on his first night as a Peace Corps volunteer in the ancient North Macedonian city of Štip, Cal Mann was welcomed with a raucous party at a rustic cabin far outside of town. There was an abundance of food and drinks, and a boom box blared local music. As the party raged well past midnight, Mann watched, beer in hand. “I’m like, I can’t do this for two years, that’s for sure,” he recalls.

So you can understand his trepidation the next day when he found out a barbecue was in the works. Being a good sport and new to the city, he opted to go — a pivotal decision, it turns out. At the barbecue he struck up a conversation with a man named Zoran Kolev, who spoke English. As talk came around to Mann’s work as a Peace Corps volunteer, Kolev mentioned that there was a new service club in the city: the Rotary Club of Štip.

“He told me they had just started the club a few months before,” Mann says. “They didn’t really know what Rotary was, but someone had told them it was a good thing to do.” This was great news to Mann, who had been a Rotary member since 2004 (and who currently belongs to the Rotary E-Club of Silicon Valley).

“I was thrilled to have met someone involved in Rotary so I could tap into my experience there. And they were happy to have someone who knew what Rotary was.”