Jaquelyn Sue Mills

Jackie Sue Mills was born on January 10, 1988.

Her mom describes her as “a treasure and a gift to us.” Her dad has said on more than one occasion that he would love to crawl inside Jackie’s brain and hang out there for awhile, only he’s afraid he’d never want to leave.

It has been said that we live from our hearts and Jackie lived with her heart wide open.

To know Jackie was to know what it means to truly abide in God. Her life, even with its limits and challenges, was an abundant one.

Jackie was the best mom ever to her baby doll, “Black Baby” who was in her loving care for more than 30 years. Black Baby was with Jackie during waking hours, but at bedtime she tucked her into Baby’s own special wheelchair for safe keeping. Jackie slept with her PlayDough, a deck of cards and a round container of Bubblicious.

Jackie and her dad, Clay, shared a love of sports. There was no sport she didn’t enjoy. If the Seahawks were playing, Jackie was in her jersey rooting them on from the living room. She made sure that Black Baby also had her jersey on. Apple Cup was a highlight—Go Cougs! Her annual trip to a Mariner’s game was a highlight and she would remind her parents that game day was approaching. Mariner’s games meant time with Aunt Becky and a special treat of cotton candy.

But it wasn’t just baseball and football—she loved all sports and wasn’t just a spectator but an enthusiastic fan. She was delighted when the Olympics rolled around. There were so many different events to watch, but her favorite was swimming and she couldn’t understand why swimming was left out of the Winter Games. Every four years she lobbied for someone to fix that obvious mistake. “Swimming, please.”

Jackie loved getting dressed up for fun occasions. The Kentucky Derby meant it was time to put on a fancy hat for the derby party her mom threw every year. She loved color in her hair, pretty outfits and fun glasses. When it was time to get new glasses, she insisted that they were pink and called them her “Hallie glasses” after Nurse Hallie from Doc McStuffin. Doc McStuffin was a favorite and the DVD case was often in her hands and rarely out of sight.

Jackie was an admirer of beauty. She loved “momma flowers” and would comment: “Like it. Pretty.” She loved art—making it and admiring it. Her table was often covered with markers and colored pencils that she meticulously organized. She was always coloring, cutting, gluing, playing with play dough or making crafts. She worshipped the God who put rainbows in the sky and she was dazzled by them.

There was no genre of music that Jackie didn’t enjoy. The Beatles were her favorite and she loved “Yellow Submarine.” She was equally joyful lifting her voice and heart in worship with her mom or rocking out to Van Halen or Rush with her dad.

She loved watching YouTube videos spanning a wide variety of content from cartoons to medical procedures. She was equally entertained by Minnie Mouse or open heart surgery. She mystified Lisa and Clay when she would pull up a video on her iPad that related to a topic they were discussing or something they were watching on TV. They never figured out how she did it. Only Jackie knows.

She loved the people around her with beautiful, reckless abandon and a pure heart. Her family was her so precious to her. Her life was overflowing with family gatherings—Christmas, Labor Day celebrations, summer fun with cousins. She loved doing things with Grandma Jean and Grandma Lila. Grandpa Bill (she called him “Bill” because that’s what Grandma always called him) had a special place in Jackie’s heart.

One of the most important people in her life was her big brother, Ben. Ben adored Jackie from the day she was born and helped care for her, not out of obligation but out of love. He never treated her like she was different—she was his sister and that was all that mattered.

And the truth is, Jackie never thought of herself as different either. She knew that she belonged wherever she was.

The love Jackie had for Ben spilled over to his wife, Kana. She loved that Kana was a nurse. Ben and Kana’s boys, Eugene and Ray, where absolutely adored by Aunt Jackie. She talked about them always and looked forward to their visits with such joy.

Jackie loved Christmas and was excited each year when the Christmas tree would go up. Instead of taking the tree down after Christmas, Lisa started to repurpose the tree into Jackie’s “birthday tree”, replacing the Christmas ornaments with decorations to celebrate her. Jackie loved her birthday and her request was always the same—a strawberry cake and a trip to “Apple Place” (Applebee’s) with Cindy, one of her favorite people in the world.

Lisa and Clay had a gift for turning ordinary days into celebrations because they knew how much joy could be found in simple things. Whether it was transforming the Christmas tree into a birthday tree, planning a trip to Applebee’s, or breaking out the M&Ms, root beer, or a bag of Lay’s potato chips, they took delight in delighting Jackie.

The extra effort was worth every bit of joy that simple outings brought Jackie. She loved going to school. She loved riding the DART bus to the Snohomish Public Library for story time and the chance to check out books—she loved books! Going for a walk with her mom on the Centennial Trail was a grand adventure. And then there were the adventures she had with her mom and Donna Reib—camping trips that each held a little challenge but a whole lot of fun. She proved that you can have fun even if you end up in the ER with a broken bone or an allergic reaction to a horse.

Jackie faced more physical challenges and medical complications than most of us will ever know, but that only seemed to draw her that much closer to the source of her faith and hope.

Her prayers were never complicated and always sincere.

"Jesus, help, please."

Perhaps that's because Jackie understood something many of us spend our whole lives learning—that faith isn't a lot of impressive words. It's knowing who to ask.

Jackie never doubted that she was loved. She knew something that takes most of us a lifetime to truly comprehend—“yes, Jesus loves me.”

Now she is with the One who created her, the One who in love gave her to her parents, the One to whom she has always belonged. Her abundant life has become life eternal.

The Jesus to whom Jackie so often prayed, "Jesus, help, please," has now welcomed her home.

We will be celebrating Jackie's life, remembering how she touched our lives. We will be eating some of her favorites, playing with play dough, creating some crafts, playing horseshoes, cornhole and having a party just like she would have loved.

The celebration of life will be held at 11611 Three Lakes Road, Snohomish, WA 98290, on August 29, 2026, beginning at 12:00 pm.