Jay Patrick Jackson

Jay Patrick Jackson, Superintendent and Principal of Missouri City School, and resident of Missouri City, Missouri, died at home on October 25, 2020, while surrounded by his family. Jay reached the age of 70 before completing his courageous battle with cancer.

Jay is survived by his wife, Barbara Rose Jackson; step-mother, Susie Jackson of Kansas; brother, Bruce Jackson of California; son, Aaron Jackson and his wife, Tammy Jackson of Kansas City and their children, Cole and Chloie Jackson, Chandler Griffith, and Grahm McCracken with wife Yadira McCracken with their son, Nicholas; son, Jeremy Miles Jackson of Kansas City; stepson, Brian Bement and his wife, Aimee Bement of Michigan and their children, Eliana, Josiah, Micah, Alethea; stepson, David Bement and his wife, Caroline Bement of Colorado and their children, Brynn and Brooke; and stepson, Luke Bement and his wife, Taylor Bement of Kansas City and their children, Wyatt and Nolan. Jay is also survived by his niece, Caitlin Murawski and her husband, Brett Murawski of Platte City and their daughter, Charlotte.

Jay is preceded in death by his mother, Leta Marie Jackson, father, James Jackson, and brother, William (“Sam”) Jackson.

Jay was graduate of the Class of 1968 at North Kansas City High School and is an Eagle Scout. Jay attended undergraduate studies at the University of Missouri at Columbia where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in History. He subsequently earned his Education Specialist degree at UMKC.

After completing his formal education, Jay was a Clay County juvenile officer for five years and then invested the next 43 years of his life educating children and promoting excellence in education at Missouri City School. He spent his first year in education as an 8th grade teacher at Missouri City School. Then, after an arsonist attempted to destroy the school, he accepted the positions of Superintendent and Principal at the young age of 27. Jay improved the school’s ranking from “unclassified” to being the smallest “AAA” school in Missouri. Jay was a pioneer and leading figure in efforts to desegregate Kansas City area schools in the 1990s by accepting transfer students from the Kansas City School, which, when combined with Missouri City School’s AAA rating, shined national attention on Missouri City and caught the attention of the U.S. Secretary of Education in Washington, D.C., who then visited Missouri City School in order to see first-hand the “Missouri City Miracle.” In 1993 the school was once again almost destroyed, albeit this time by flood waters from the Missouri River. After the flood, Jay led community efforts to restore the school. Not only did Jay help bring the school back from the brink of destruction, he fully restored it after the flood, obtained new financing from, among other sources, the Country of Luxembourg, and even orchestrated the construction of a new library and new cafeteria with funds from Luxembourg, which brought international attention to Missouri City and resulted in visits to Missouri City by the Ambassador of Luxembourg.

Jay was a member of the William C. Corum Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Clay County Archives and Historical Library, the Clay County Museum and Historical Society, CHARISMA, Country School Association of America, Board of the K-8 Association, and United States Sidecar Association. He was a founding organizer of the Crowley’s Company Civil War re-enactor’s group and founding organizer of the Frank James Bank Historical Museum, which is located in a building recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. Jay researched and wrote about the Battle of Blue Mills landing resulting in a documentary produced by Wide Awake Films currently showing at the Clay County Museum. The book "You Look Brave Enough to Hang a Woman" was written based on Jay’s historical research of Clay County during the Civil War.

Jay received numerous awards over his lifetime and has been covered multiple times in newspapers and magazines. He had a dedication and passion for scouting, history, education, genealogy, Civil War reenacting, and sewing Civil War uniforms, kepis, and other historical clothing. He collected Civil War artifacts and preserved and marked historical places. He had been asked by many organizations to speak on many subjects and do training (“staff rides”) for corporate leaders and officers of the United States Army. He was an avid reader and loved to travel. He influenced many lives and was an inspiration to everyone he met. He always showed kindness and strived for fairness and equality for all. He deeply loved and cared for his family, friends, and a small city’s worth of surrogate family, communing and enjoying the finer pleasures of life.

As a parting wish, Jay requested that, in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be sent to Missouri City School, 700 East Main, PO Box 259, Missouri City, MO, 64072.

The family would like to thank the Saint Luke’s oncology staff and Saint Luke’s homecare and hospice for their care and dedication to Jay and the family during his last days.

Please also consider leaving photos and stories/condolences to the family at [email protected]