Obituaries
Judge Bernard Jackson Remembered in New York
Jackson was a summer resident of Water Mill and a pioneer among African-American police officers, attorneys and judges.
Editor’s Note: This obituary and additional information was provided by Alchimia Marketing & Public Relations. It was edited by Patch.
A memorial was held in Manhattan Friday for part-time Water Mill resident Bernard Hampton Jackson, the late New York State Supreme Court judge known for paving the way for African-Americans in law enforcement and jurisprudence.
Jackson died Jan. 17 at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center following a long illness at the age of 86.
The memorial, which attracted members of the New York political elite, took place at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where Jackson grew up.
To name just a few of the speakers at the memorial, there was political leader Basil Paterson, U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, former New York City Mayor David Dinkins and the Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, who officiated the service.
Jackson was a long-time summer resident of Water Mill. Born Oct. 26, 1926, and raised in Harlem, he began his career as a police officer rising through the ranks while attending Brooklyn Law School at night with his long-time friend David N. Dinkins who would later go on to be mayor of New York. Bernie, as he was known, reached the rank of detective before becoming an assistant United States attorney working with Robert F. Kennedy. From there he went on to work with Dinkins and became managing partner of Dyett, Alexander & Dinkins. He was later appointed the first black executive director of the New York Police Department Civilian Complaint Review Board.
In 1968, he became one of only two black executives at the National Football League. He was named as special counsel to Commissioner Pete Rozzele. Shifting back to public service, Jackson was named regional representative to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Jimmy Carter and special assistant to Governor Hugh Carey for urban affairs.
In 1981, he and his wife Hazel divorced and he later wed Thelma "Fuji" Ferguson and had a son, Miles. During this time, he was appointed to the Criminal Court in New York and was later elected justice of the New York State Supreme Court. In 1990, after the unexpected death of his wife, he left the bench to become of counsel to international law firm White & Case and was later named chairman of the New York City Civil Service Commission.
In 1990 he met Joyce Mullins who had a son, Brandon, and in 1997 they were married and lived in Manhattan and Water.
He was a founding member of 100 Black Men and participated in various civic and professional organizations including Manhattan Chapter of the Guardsmen, Zeta Boule, The Reveille Club of New Tork and Kappa Alpha Phi Fraternity. Jackson and Mullins were supporter of numerous charitable organizations including Big Brothers, Big Sisters of New York, Glimmerglass Opera Festival, the Parrish Art Museum and Evidence, A Dance Company, for which he and Mullins hosted several annual On Our Toes in the Hamptons Galas at their Water Mill home.
Jackson is survived by his wife, Joyce Mullins Jackson, her son, Brandon, and her grandchildren Jalen and Asha Mullins, his daughter Linda and his son, Bernard and daughter-in-law Kerri Jackson.
