Neil Thomas Jackson

“Gone from our sight, but never from our memories”

Unexpectedly, at home, Neil passed away on the 16th February 2021

Disbelief and shock tend to go together. Disbelief in these early stages can be a kind of protection. But then comes  the slow, but necessary,  realisation that this must be true. Perhaps this celebration of life today helps us move forward with the grieving process as we register the enormity of what has happened, but also celebrate the happy memories.

Neil we remember first and foremost as a family man. Nicola and Neil had been friends for a few years before actually got together. Nicola openly admits that she actively pursued him, yet it was Neil who gave the final push to establish their relationship by asking Nicola to take him a bacon roll and a strawberry milkshake from McDonalds to his flat in St Helens, conquering her fear of driving in the snow in the process. Neil, who had been born in St Helens and had lived there all of his life moved to Crewe to be with Nicola and settle down with the family he had always wanted and he didn’t look back.

This family took him under their wing and he certainly took on responsibility for them. There might have been a few ruffled feathers at first, but he sorted them. We have heard glowing testimony to this from Nicola, Leigh-Anne, Damian, Charlie & Louis. Neil made them the people they are, and they are really glad he came along. He has left a great legacy in the family, and it is now up to them to carry forward what he has taught them.

His influence on Louis is especially profound. Neil has been Louis’ hero. Neil supported Man United therefore so did Louis.  Neil  introduced Louis to a wonderfully varied diet due to the fact that whatever Daddy was eating Louis would eat too as he wanted to be exactly like his daddy.

Neil enjoyed playing golf with his best mate Paul and sometimes if Paul couldn’t make it then he would take Louis with him instead.

Neil was a huge St Helen’s Rugby fan and Louis would watch it on tv with his daddy and also go to matches with him. Neil liked playing with lights and gadgets, so did Louis.

And Neil was more than pleased and willing to be that role model – to be there for Louis, they really were the best of friends.

But of course it’s not just the children who are going to miss this gentle giant of a man – his wife and best friend Nicola will miss him for the rest of her life.

They might have had the odd bit of bickering – sometimes a proper argument – but they truly loved each other. He was not one to admit he was wrong about anything, but he had a secret way of sorting it. They knew how to read each other.

If they weren’t actually together doing something – such as a meal out, or a weekend away, or a drive somewhere – they knew precisely where the other was. The love between Nicola and Neil remains.

Bleak though the prospect of life without him may seem to the family, you can revel and exult in the happy memories. Neil wanted to bring happiness to those around him and he wants his memory to bring you happiness going forward. And you can revel and exult in the love you had between you. Love has an eternal dimension I think. Pretty well every love song tells you that. I say that those who love Neil will see him again.

Celebrate today what you have learned from Neil’s life – how you are better people for having known him, been in his company. His children carry within themselves something of Neil.  For example: The love of, and commitment to, family. The sense of fun. His playful humour. His ability to use money to best advantage – to achieve the things which would mean most to family members and himself.

Neil has passed from your sight and from your touch, but he will never be forgotten.  He will never be without the love that sustained him on earth and which he shared among you. Neil was everything to his family, and he still is, and he stays in their hearts forever. They love him to the moon and back and Nicola and everyone in the family, he will still have those little unexpected surprises for you.