Retired Anne Arundel County high school principal Walter M. Jackson Sr. of Severna Park passed away on Dec. 22 at the Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie following a prolonged illness.


A native of Burlington, N.C., he was the son of the late Jesse R. Jackson and Carrie Parrish Jackson and the brother of the late Jesse R. Jackson Jr. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in Italy immediately after the end of World War II.


Following his military service, he earned a bachelor's degree from East Carolina Teacher's College (East Carolina University) and taught for several years in Mebane, N.C., and Chatham, Va. As the coach of the Chatham High School basketball team, he led the team to four county championships, four district titles, two regional titles, third place in a state tournament, and the first State Group III scholastic title ever won by the South Central region. He also coached the high school's football and basketball teams.


Jackson moved to Anne Arundel County with his family in 1957. Early in his career with the county public schools, he taught at Ridgeway Elementary and Glen Burnie High Schools. During the summers, he worked as a lifeguard in the Linstead community in Severna Park. Jackson also served in the Maryland National Guard, eventually rising to the rank of Captain.


After teaching in Anne Arundel County for several years, he became a secondary school administrator and served as an assistant principal at Annapolis Junior High School and Brooklyn Park High School, among others.
In the late 1960s, he joined the Howard County public school system and was the first principal at Mount Hebron High School. He later returned to the Anne Arundel County public school system where he served as the principal of Brooklyn Park High School for many years.
Jackson retired from Anne Arundel County Public Schools in 1982.


He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Walter and Jane Jackson, of Millersville and his daughter and son-in-law, Jacquelyn Jackson and Stephen Hammond, of Crofton. He is also survived by two granddaughters and a grandson and their families: Lindsay and Chad Unitas and their sons, C. J. and Brody; Brandon and Kristen Jackson and their son, Blake; and Kate and William Schneider.
Jackson was 86; his marriage to the late June Bass of Halifax, N.C. ended in divorce.

A private memorial service will be held in North Carolina at a later date.