Jackie Rae Ludwig

Jacquelyn (Jackie) Rae Higginbotham was born July 6th, 1938 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She was born at home, narrowly escaping death with the umbilical cord around her neck but she was born with the will to live. Her parents were Hugh Edwin Higginbotham and Florence Rebecca Stephens. She had one older sibling, Frankie Edwin Higginbotham. Jackie was proud of the fact that she came from a railroading family and her brother was a Marine. Florence was a traditional housewife of the time who gardened and sewed. As a girl Jackie invited Christ Jesus into her life and was baptized at Seventh Avenue Baptist Church. Later in life Jackie enjoyed a very close relationship with her Lord and Savior and spent many quiet hours praying for her friends and family. Jackie went to school at Abraham Lincoln HIgh School, leaving school early to marry Robert Ludwig and raise 3 children, Cindy Cay Sullivan (husband Ronald), Robert Bruce Ludwig (reunited with our Savior in 1963) and Mischelle Dana Hamawoo (Kokouga). As circumstances evolved, Jackie ended up becoming a single parent and raising her two daughters on her own. Jackie worked in various fields including banking, libraries and car dealerships. Jackie’s commitment to family continued as she became the only grandparent of her 4 grandchildren Robert Bruce, Timothy Jason, Ronald (Bucky) Lee and Amanda Cay Wallace. Jackie was very close to her grandchildren and still had enough love to share with Nakecia Agee who came to live with Jackie when she was 15 years old. Nakecia became a permanent member of the family. God added to Jackie’s joy with the following great-grandchildren-Robert Bruce Jr, Christian, Zhonae, Selario, Ronald Lee Jr, Kesheen, Kierra, Neveah, Jay’Lynn, De'janae Alanah, Arianna, Aaron, Kawiyou, LeRon, Taliyah, and Tashanti. Jackie went home to be with Jesus and her son, Bruce on September 14, 2016. Jackie’s family will miss her deeply but I’m sure she would want us to remember that Joy comes in the morning.