Geraldine B. Jackson

Jerry was born in Lexie, Mississippi, on February 14, 1933 to Versie Mae (Johnson) and Chancie Ray Breeland. She graduated from Lexie High School and Copiah-Lincoln Junior College on a basketball scholarship. After graduating she went to the University of Southern Mississippi where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Education. She would later earn a Master's degree from Western Carolina in Counseling. Jerry moved to Chiefland, Florida in 1954 to take a job as the varsity coach of the girls' basketball team at Chiefland High School. Her team was playing at Melrose High School in the fall of 1954. Jerry had spent the spring of 1940 in Melrose while her father prepared for WWII at Camp Blanding. Her mother kept correspondence with a group of friends from Melrose all the years after the war, and they came to fellowship with Jerry after the game in Melrose. The only friend she could remember was her brother's buddy, Harry Jackson. The ladies sent young Choc Matthews to fetch Harry to come say hello. Harry and Jerry hit it off, and when she had to leave, Harry flagged down one of his best friends, Eugene Sapp. He jumped in his car and ordered him to "Follow that bus." They had hamburgers at Mac's in Gainesville, and they lived to say, "the rest is history." Harry and Jerry Jackson were married on June 4, 1955 in Kingsland, Georgia, and were devoted to one another for 66years. The couple spent two years in Chiefland before moving back to Melrose. They taught together at Melrose High School where she was the girls' basketball coach. When Melrose High School was closed to open Interlachen High School, the couple taught there until she returned to Melrose Elementary as the guidance counselor. She has been described as, "a mother to every child at Melrose Elementary," and her DUSO the Dolphin lessons remain legendary. Jerry served as an educator for 39 years, all but the first two in Putnam County. She was Director of the Women's Missionary Union, an auxiliary of the Southern Baptist Convention; Sunday School teacher; and devoted member of Eliam Baptist Church from 1955 until 2024. She was a member of Eastern Star and Alfa Delta Sorority. She was a devoted wife, mother, and community member. She was known as a friend to all and was respected by everyone that met her. The most frequent word used to describe Jerry Jackson is kind. She was an avid reader, puzzle solver, and stayed active her entire life.
Jerry was preceded in death by her parents, Versie Mae and Chancie Ray Breeland, her brother Charlie and wife Mary Lee Breeland, and her beloved husband, Harry F. Jackson, Sr. She is survived by her sons, Harry Jackson, Jr. of Melrose and Mitchell Jackson of Winter Springs, Florida.
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