John Jackson Sr., 100, retired lawyer

John W. Jackson Sr., a retired lawyer, died April 20 of respiratory failure at Pleasant Care nursing home in Novato, Calif. He was 100.

Mr. Jackson, who was known as Piper, was born in the District Dec. 30, 1905.

He attended Western High School in the District and then went to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

After graduating, Mr. Jackson attended the George Washington University Law School, where he later taught trial-practice court for many years.

He practiced law in the District, Maryland and Virginia, and he and his wife, Eleanor, raised their family in Arlington. Mr. Jackson retired in 1998 and moved to San Rafael, Calif.

He was a great storyteller, and enjoyed relating tales about the old days in the District and about the practice of law. He particularly enjoyed recounting stories of his adventures in going to sea as a “lower than low” deck boy in his young adult years.

Mr. Jackson loved to travel, and nothing made him happier than to be on a tropical beach with gentle waves.

He was an avid gardener, enjoyed reading and poetry, and had a memory that allowed him to quote songs, poems and authors that he had read 80 or 90 years earlier.

Mr. Jackson was a member of numerous clubs and societies, including the Arlington and D.C. bar associations, the Order of the Coif, the Barristers in the District and the Metropolitan Club of Washington, D.C.

Survivors include a son, John W. Jackson Jr. of Fredericksburg, Va.; two daughters, Margaret Bartolini of Novato and Beverley Johnston of Fort Worth, Texas; four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. His wife died in 1994