Catherine Helen Jackson

On January 17th at approximately 10pm, Catherine Jackson passed away in Dallas, Texas, after a brief illness. She concluded a fantastic life at the age of 95. She was preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Dick, and her parents, Martin and Helen, as well as her sister Mary Margaret, brother Tino, and her sister-in-law Phyllis. Those who will miss her terribly until they see her again include her 5 children, Anne (Lonnie), Jane (John), Barbara (Mark), Richard (Amber) and Katie (Ray). She also leaves behind 10 grandchildren who loved their Nana: Joe, Casey, Ben, Sam, Abigail, Mariah, Sarah, Alexandra, Hallie, and Ryan. Our mother also formed friendships in every aspect of her life and those many friends will miss her tell-it-like-it-is attitude towards life.

Catherine was born in Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, on September 15, 1925, to Martin and Helen Lally. She lost both of her parents at an early age and that experience gave her incredible strength and helped form her attitude that nothing could stop her from achieving her goals and she passed that on to her children and grandchildren. Our mother told us all that if anyone tells you “no”, find out who the “head guy” is and go convince him to give you what you want. All of us have lived by that philosophy.

She married Dick Jackson in 1952 and their marriage lasted 58 years, until his passing in 2010. It was a great marriage and set a wonderful example for her children. They traveled the world together and saw many beautiful faraway places and we are certain he was waiting for her when she got to Heaven and had more than likely warned everyone else of her arrival. Our dad traveled for the majority of his 40-year career, which left our mother to manage the household and the five of us. She served as mom, chef, driver, counselor, truant officer and cop. The memories of her cheering us on at our sporting events will live with us forever. Our mom did what she wanted and what she wanted was to raise a large family that achieved their goals and loved and respected each other and in that she was a huge success. She also made time for bridge and was a master player at the game that she referred to as “flipping pasteboards”.

Catherine Jackson lived a spectacular life and commented often how surprised she was to still be here in her 90’s. While we will miss her terribly, our faith tells us that we will see her again and in the meantime our intention is to celebrate a life well-lived.

We would also like to express our sincere appreciation for those that cared for our mother in her later years. Eboni Gonzales and Norma from the Forum at Park Lane in Dallas were caregivers and friends to all of us and we will be forever grateful. And the nursing staff from Garden of Eden Hospice are nothing short of Angels, especially Jane, Grace, Marion and Azzie. Thank you for your round the clock care for our mother.

A private family service will be held in her honor soon.