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Bio	Jackson H. Accola was born to immigrant parents in Davenport, Iowa, on June 18, 1930. His father migrated from Switzerland and his mother from East Prussia. He married his neighborhood sweetheart, Cheryll A. Goettsch, on June 11, 1955. Together they had two sons, one daughter and two granddaughters. He was an avid World War II history buff. He also enjoyed sports, travel, computers, socializing with friends at the mall and winter trips to Mesa, Arizona. Jack wanted to be a fireman since he was a small child. His dream came true on June 1, 1952. From the beginning Jack knew he had very little chance for promotions due to the Veterans Preference Law. In spite of this, he faithfully took promotional exams every two years and consistently placed in the top three of the list. When veterans preference was abolished, he made rapid advancement until on January 7, 1979, he was promoted to District Chief. He had no aspirations of further promotion, as he loved the close camaraderie with his men and hands-on firefighting. He had a great love for his job and a great working relationship with his fellow firefighters. Jack had a serious heart attack while responding to a fire in 1983. After several months of recuperating from bypass surgery, he convinced his doctors to allow him to return to the fire department. He retired on disability on June 15, 1987. After a 4-month battle with cancer, Jack lost the fight on April 7, 2000. He will be remembered lovingly by his family, friends and members of the Davenport Fire Department.