A former professor and three-time alumnus of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Walter Jackson, died January 11 at the age of 85. Jackson was on the faculty at Southern Seminary from 1982-1996, during which he served as professor of ministry and director of supervised experience in ministry.

A signatory of the seminary’s confession of faith, the Abstract of Principles, in 1982, Jackson earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Richmond in 1955 before earning his bachelor of divinity (1959), master of theology (1961), and doctor of philosophy in church history (1968) from Southern Seminary. He retired from the school in 1998.

"Walter Jackson was a Christian scholar and a true Christian gentleman, and he served for so many years on the faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, shaping a generation of young ministers,” said R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Seminary. “Walter and Jackie were a wonderfully happy couple and it was always an encouragement to be around them. The prayers and thoughts of gratitude from the Southern Seminary family are with Jackie and the Jackson family in these days.”

According to his obituary, Jackson was ordained for ministry at Belmont Baptist Church in 1955, not long after his college graduation. He met Jacqueline Jean Rhodes while serving at Brighton Street Mission in Newport, Kentucky, in 1956. The two married the next year.

During his studies at Southern Seminary, Jackson pastored a number of churches in the Louisville area, including Payneville Baptist Church, Mt. Eden Baptist Church, and then Vine Street Baptist Church. Jackson was a chaplain at Kentucky Baptist Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, before he finished his doctoral studies, and after retirement trained military chaplains and served as a consultant for numerous counseling centers and hospitals in Kentucky.

Jackson is survived by his wife of 61 years, Jacqueline, his sister, three children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

A funeral for Jackson will be held at St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 26 at 11 a.m. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Saint Matthews Pastoral Counseling Center for the establishment of a Walter C. Jackson Scholarship or the Saint Matthews Baptist Church Reimagine campaign.