Jackson Henderson Ables III

Published 9:33 am Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Jackson Henderson Ables, III, died on May 14, 2025, in Flora, Mississippi. He was 78 years old. He was born in Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi on December 3, 1946, the oldest of the three children of Jackson Henderson Ables Jr. and his wife, Canna Elizabeth Kendrick.

Mr. Ables was baptized as an infant at First Presbyterian Church in Vicksburg. Mr. Ables and his brother, Timothy Dale Ables, and sister, Susan Elizabeth Ables, were raised in a devoutly God-fearing home; his fervent love of country was of only penultimate importance and a precept not up for debate.

As a young boy Mr. Ables was active in the Boy Scouts of America, an Eagle Scout, and a member of the Order of the Arrow. He was also active in his school newspaper, Latin Club, and classical society.

Mr. Ables decided while still in junior high school that he would become an attorney and, more specifically, a litigator. When he entered the University of Mississippi in 1965 it was with two definite plans: (1) to take a degree in political science, preparatory to law school, and (2) to work toward achieving a commission in the U.S. Navy, continuing his father and grandfather’s naval service tradition.

Mr. Ables’ most notable naval duty was with the U.S. Navy’s Combat Engineers. As a newly-minted Ensign, he was appointed to the Headquarters staff and made the Administrative Officer of the Twentieth Naval Construction Regiment which exercised operational control of the several battalions of naval combat engineer forces units based in the Atlantic Fleet area, but primarily operating in southwest Asia.

In law school, he “wrote onto” the Law Review, became Associate Editor of the Mississippi Law Journal and was elected by his fellow members as the Magister (President) of the Mayes Inn of Phi Delta Phi, the international law school scholastic honorary society.

Mr. Ables was called by the bar in 1975 when he began his career as a litigator at Daniel Coker Horton Bell and Dukes where he served for nearly five decades. He wrote and published numerous scholarly articles for private publications as well as substantive compendia of law. He was a civil litigator, editor of a nationally published quarterly on product liability law, a frequent speaker at various organizations’ national seminars, and he served his State’s Bar and its citizenry. He was recruited by Admiral Thomas Lilly to involvement in the activities of the Southeastern Legal Foundation in Atlanta where he was engaged in cases of constitutional importance. A point of professional pride was his
involvement in the defeat of the libel claims brought about by the motion picture “Mississippi Burning,” which led directly to the reopening of the dormant prosecution of Medgar Evers’ murderer. He joined First Presbyterian Church in Jackson immediately after graduating Law School and remained a member of its now so-called “Young Seekers” Sunday school class until his death; for over two decades, he taught Sunday school classes for children in grades two through five, an opportunity he exploited to persuade his own children of the truths of The Gospel. He served on the Mission to North America Committee in the church’s ministry to international professionals and academics residing here, and
international students enrolled at area colleges and universities.

Mr. Ables’ hobbies were diverse and included outdoorsmanship, hunting, fishing, historical research, and writing.

Mr. Ables is preceded in death by his father, Jackson Henderson Ables, Jr.; his mother, Canna Elizabeth Kendrick Ables; and his sister, Susan Elizabeth Ables. He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Karon Lynn Graves Ables, a Natchez native; and by three children: Christopher Bradley Ables (Carol Ann), Emily Cameron Ables Holloway (Daniel), and Ryan Kendrick Ables (Chloe), each of whom he loved selflessly and relentlessly; granddaughter Sadie Elizabeth Holloway; granddaughter, MC Ables, due in July; a grandson, James Witt Holloway, due in September; his brother, Timothy Dale
Ables; a niece and many nephews; and thirty three first cousins.

Mr. Ables’ visitation will be held Friday, May 23 at 9:30 a.m. with service following at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, with interment and graveside service to follow in the Ables Family plot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Vicksburg.

In lieu of flowers, Mr. Ables requested that any memorials, including bequests, be made to any of these deserving recipients: Reformed Theological Seminary, The Palmer Home for Children (Columbus, MS), French Camp Academy, The African Bible College (Kampala, Uganda), St. Jude Children’s Hospital (Memphis, TN), the Wounded
Warrior Project, and Disabled American Veterans.

He asked that you reflect on the words of Job and of St. Paul: “…Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him”, “… For we know that all things work together for good to them who are the called according to His purposes.”
(Here endeth the Lesson.)