published: Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Andrew Jackson, 77, dies

By BARRY FOSTER

News-Sun correspondent

SEBRING - Flags in Highlands County have been lowered to half-staff in honor of former District 3 Highlands County Commissioner Andrew Jackson. He reportedly passed away Monday evening. He was 77 years old.

A Highlands County native, Jackson practiced as a local attorney, was an Assistant State Attorney for a time and served stints both as legal counsel for the then-South Florida Community College Board of Trustees and to Glades Electric.

Don Bates, who served with Jackson as a commissioner, remembers his District 3 counterpart as a man who was interested in saving the county money.

"He was always concerned about cutting the budget and looking toward privatization were he could," Bates said.

Bates also pointed toward Jackson's legal background as a valuable resource in helping guide county decisions.

A graduate of the University of Florida, Jackson was the first Republican elected to a major office in Highlands County - being elected to the county commission in 1971. He abandoned that post two years later to make an unsuccessful run for the Florida House of Representatives.

Jackson was elected to the commission again in 2000. However, he was unseated in his bid for a third term in 2008 by fellow Republican Jeff Carlson in a hotly contested primary race.

The former commissioner had his share of misfortune, suffering a fall from the roof of his Lakeview Drive home while making repairs and later being seriously injured in a two-car crash in Hardee County in a September 2010 incident.

In addition to his other posts, Jackson served as president of the Highlands County Cattleman's Association, Highlands County Property Owners Association, Lake Placid Jaycees, was a director of the Lake Placid and Sebring chambers of commerce, and was a member of the county's Zoning Board.

Among other boards and committees, he was a member of the Florida Heartland Rural Economic Development Initiative, Highlands County Tourist Development Council, Industrial Development Authority and Veteran's Services Advisory Board.

He leaves his wife Ida and four children, Nathan, Randy, Crystal and Amber.

Officials at the Morris Funeral Chapel are handling the arrangements. A service reportedly is planned for Saturday at First Baptist Church in Sebring.