Obituary of Kirk D. Jackson

BAKERS MILLS: On January 21, 2026, the world lost Kirk Denton Jackson, age 74, of Bakers Mills, NY. He passed away at Albany Medical Center after a brief illness, surrounded by his wife of fifty-one years and his two children.

He was born on July 1, 1951 at Elizabethtown Community Hospital in Elizabethtown, NY, the son of Philip Nye Jackson III and Patricia Denton Jackson. He graduated from Elizabethtown High School in 1970 and earned a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Potsdam in 1974. That same year, he married his college sweetheart Janet Stepneski, and the two started their adventure together by promptly moving to Hawaii, where their first son Timothy Keoni was born. After moving back to New York, their daughter Malia Ann was born in Saranac Lake.

Kirk loved to be where the action was, whether that was hobnobbing at the Lake Placid Club, having celebrity encounters in Hawaii, photographing the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, or watching his pianist college roommate accompany Liza Minnelli in Las Vegas. He loved to travel, with the Florida Keys, Edinburgh, Scotland, and Arizona being among his favorite destinations. If there was a piano left unattended in public, he would treat, or perhaps subject, everyone to his jazz improvisations.

When he worked for WIPS radio in Ticonderoga, NY, he was eager to go on location and broadcast. Oftentimes he was covering area sports and local events, but he also interviewed his daughter about the Chicken McNuggets at the newly opened McDonalds. A teacher by trade, he spent a number of years educating middle schoolers, including both of his children, at St. Mary’s School, also in Ticonderoga, launching their sports program and magnifying pond water to show off the teeming microscopic life within.

At home in Bakers Mills, NY, he enjoyed being the steward of his forested property, hauling his vast collection of houseplants inside and outside with the seasons, and befriending woodland creatures. A great lover of the Adirondacks, he knew all the best spots to go for a swim and the destinations of all the back roads.

Remaining to share slightly less long-winded accounts of Kirk’s many stories are his wife Janet, his son Tim, his daughter Malia (Noah), his siblings Philip Nye Jackson IV and Sarah Braun (Paul), the congregation of Sodom Community Church, and many dear friends including his neighbor Jim Ross.

Preceding him in death are his parents Philip Nye Jackson III and Patricia Denton Jackson, along with a host of beloved relatives including his grandmother Sarah “Muddy” Denton.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Sodom Community Church by mailing a check to Sodom Community Church, 2850 State Route 8, North Creek NY, 12853. Alternatively, consider honoring his love of wildlife with a donation to North Country Wildcare.

Memorial services will be held at 11:00am on Saturday, January 24, 2026, at the Sodom Community Church in North Creek, NY.

Please visit www.alexanderfh.net for online condolences and guest book.