Vernon Jackson

Vernon met Vicki, the love of his life, on a blind date while attending university in 1972. They were both baptized, raised within and confirmed in the Methodist church. They married 3 years after meeting in her home Methodist church.

Vernon and Vicki are the epitome of “opposites attract”. He is a quantitative thinker having degrees in Chemical Engineering (Georgia Tech where he lettered 3 years in varsity football), MBA (Georgia State University) and Law (DePaul University) with the latter 2 degrees earned at night school. Vicki is the creative one having degrees in Studio Art,  Art History and German and is an accomplished artist, musician and gourmet cook. Vernon and Vicki have 3 adult children (in Portland, Kuwait City and Brooklyn, NY) and 2 beautiful grandchildren.

Vernon’s career began in manufacturing operations culminating in 3 positions as the senior leader at various food and consumer products facilities. He then changed to project management leading planning, design and construction projects for a wide array of corporations and government programs. Vernon’s work has taken him to numerous locations beginning in Baton Rouge (LA), followed by Atlanta (GA), Reno (NV), Chicago (IL), Greenville (SC) and finally Portland (OR) in 1998. Vernon has been involved with the sale, staffing and execution of numerous large design and construction projects both domestically and abroad. He spent nearly 10 years on site as the senior leader for major international projects in Singapore (P&G Next-generation Innovation Center), Doha (Qatar – World Cup stadium build out) and UAE (Dubai World Expo 2020). Vernon and Vicki repatriated to Portland in 2019 and retired the following year into the teeth of the pandemic.

Vernon (and Vicki’s) Christian journey after marriage included periods of high activity in church life as well as low activity. He particularly has fond memories of their years at Buncombe Street Methodist (Greenville, SC) when all of their children were so actively involved. They also had a truly inspirational journey to Jerusalem when on vacation in 2014. However, as they continued to change locations, the re-establishment process in finding a meaningful church life was different every time. It was particularly limiting when living in predominantly Muslim countries where there were few Christian worship venues. This is where Vernon and Vicki first experienced the Episcopal church, both in Qatar and UAE.

After returning to Portland, Vernon and Vicki found Trinity to be a wonderful extension of that experience with outstanding worship and music offerings in a beautiful setting. The liturgy and weekly communion offerings add to the quality of the experience. Vernon and Vicki participated in the remote Catechesis of 2021 culminating in reception to the Episcopal Church at Trinity. Vern has been serving as a lector and is grateful for the opportunity to join the Vestry in 2024.

Vernon’s personal interests include travel, sports, physical exercise and eating his wife’s cooking.