He cared for his community deeply and his community cared for him. Seventy-six year-old Art Jackson died Tuesday evening when he fell out of his boat and into the Illinois River. His death has left Chillicothe in mourning.

"It's not going to be the same Chillicothe without Art Jackson," Friend Troy Childers Sr. says.

That's why city hall is adorned with black bows and a wreath. Art Jackson was best known as caretaker of the city parks and cemetery.

"Whenever you mentioned Art Jackson, you think of the city cemetery. He cared for it well," Childers says.

Childers says Jackson's escape from the stress of dealing with grieving families was fishing.

Authorities say his boat was cruising on the Illinois River when it suddenly stopped and he was thrown into the river. Police don't know what caused the boat to stop.

His friends take comfort in knowing he died with a basket full of bass he just caught.

"If he had to go one of these days, he'd like to go fishing. Who knows maybe this was his calling. He just went there," Childers says.

Art Jackson also lost three brothers in a boating accident back in the 1960s. Still, that didn't stop him from finding solitude on his boat with a fishing pole in hand.

"He just loved cooking those fish. We'd work all night cleaning them and the afternoon and then have a fish fry at night. He was such a good guy," Lifelong Friend Bill Prather says.

It's only fitting the place that he cared for so much, the city cemetery, will be where is family and friends come to remember him.

Family and friends say Art Jackson did have multiple health problems. An autopsy Thursday could determine how he actually died.

Services are set for Sunday at Weber-Hurd Funeral Home in Chillicothe. The visitation will be from one to four in the afternoon with the funeral at 4 p.m.

Memorials may be made to the Benefit of Joyce Jackson, c/o South Side Bank, Chillicothe Branch.