Mary Jo Jackel

1929 - 2020

Mary Jo (Wilder) Jackel transitioned from this life on December 8, 2020, at her home in Lamoni, Iowa. Mary Jo was born on October 5, 1929, in Bryan, Texas.

She was preceded in death by her parents, James Eugene Wilder and Mae Catherine (Mitchell) Wilder Gates; stepfather, George D. Gates; her husband, R. Wayne Jackel; sister, Dorothy Wilder Romig; brother, James Wilder; and daughter-in-law, Marsha Jackel.

Mary Jo was a lifetime student, teacher, and researcher of the Holy Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants. She taught in depth scripture classes at her home congregation, Community of Christ, in Weslaco, Texas and went on to teach scripture workshops at youth camps and family camps from coast to coast, in 11 states, and Mexico.

Following in the strong footsteps of her grandmother, Martha Mitchell, and her mother, Catherine, she served and supervised the dining hall for church camps and reunions in Bandera, Texas. She also began the first dining hall in Saltillo, Mexico, as the staff of the reunion had never done quantity cooking for groups. She taught the staff and helped them plan independently, a strong reunion that is still going today. She and Wayne traveled extensively in Mexico, visiting many ruins together including Tulum, Chichen Itza, and the Pyramid of the Son, and the Pyramid of the Moon.

Mary Jo had an AA degree from Graceland University and a BA degree from Pan American University. She also attended the Mayan Hieroglyphic Workshop at the University of Texas in Austin for eight years, working alongside the world's top linguists in deciphering the Mayan language in glyphs.

In 1994, because of her training, Mary Jo was asked by the First Presidency of the Community of Christ Church to examine an attempt to translate the metal plates Joseph Smith declared were written in Egyptian. With much tedious research in several of the ancient Egyptian languages, she found matches in ancient Demotic Egyptian (now a dead language). After 23 years of research and study, she was able to transliterate many of the "Caractors" (glyphs) on the "Caractor Strip" and subsequently, with the help of Faye Shaw, published her research results in her book, Caractors Unlocked, available from Amazon.

Mary Jo is survived by her four children, Nancy Jackel Sherman, Richard Jackel, and Stephen Jackel, all of Lamoni, Iowa, and Donald Jackel and wife Elizabeth Anne of Independence, Missouri. Also surviving, are her seven grandchildren, David and wife Melanie Jackel, Brian Jackel, Peter and wife Terrilee Jackel, Chelsey Jackel, Sam Jackel, Rebecca Sherman-Clark and husband Jeffrey Clark, and Michael Jackel. She has also been blessed with eight great-grandchildren, Loralei and Owen Jackel, Jacob and Annabelle Crozier, Cierra Jackel, Trey and Tyler Jackel, and Christian Kipruto Biwott; as well as many "adoptions of love" of countless individuals throughout her 91 years.

Due to Covid-19 in 2020, Mary Jo's Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Arrangements for a private family service and burial were made through Slade – O'Donnell Funeral Home in Leon, Iowa.