The highest compliment my grandmother Josephine (Thorne) Beam could give a person was that they were “nice to old people.” Care for the vulnerable is a virtue that Jackson possessed in spades. When the five cousins would get together I wondered how our youngest son would fit in with the four bigger kids. Would they ignore him? Be annoyed? But Jack made sure that the littlest one was part of the party. It wasn’t a hardship: he got a kick out of having a temporary little brother to play with.
Years later, when he was in college, Jackson came to visit. Hanging out with a group of people in our living room I saw the same dynamic: he left nobody out of the conversation, he asked good questions, and he listened with respect.
The good kid had become a good man.
August 27, 2026