Ranger Exes Memorial - RHS Faculty

Marilyn Jackson MARILYN RAE COLEMAN JACKSON, 81, passed on to her heavenly reward May 10, 2016 in Plano, TX. Marilyn married Jerry M. Jackson (Ranger ISD) of Breckenridge in Lubbock in 1956, with burial in the Macedonia Cemetery north of Ranger, TX. She was born to Wilbur Ralph & Clara Bell Ball Coleman of Hutchinson, KS on Oct. 12, 1934. She was born in the midst of the great depression and lived through World War II as a child. Her brother Richard and future husband Jerry would both serve in the Korean War. Her little brother Ted and brothers-in-law Joe Bob Jackson and Thomas Jackson would also have to serve in the armed forces after Korea & through Vietnam. Life was not easy for her generation. Her father worked tirelessly to ensure that his little girl could be the first in his family to attend university. After grad- uating from Abilene High School in 1953, Marilyn attended Texas Tech University, where she would meet the husband with whom she would spend fifty-two years until his passing in 2008. Marilyn was a strong Christian and she and Jerry were members of the First Baptists Churches in Breckenridge, Moran, and Ranger, where Jerry served as Deacon. Jerry and Marilyn dedicated their lives to educating children. Marilyn continued her education while raising her four children, eventually earning her Bachelor Degree from Tarleton State University in 1972. While Jerry was the Superintendent of Schools in Moran and Ranger, Marilyn taught English, History and Spanish. She was a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma teaching sorority in the three communities where she taught & looked forward to the meetings with fellow teachers which fostered such a wonderful sense of collegiality. Marilyn was a great mother and never missed an athletic event, musical recital, or 4H Club activity in which her children were involved. She truly put her family first in everything she did. She provided a rich learning environment at home for her children, and fostered a lifelong love of learning for which her children are eternally grateful. Marilyn also was a livestock show mom who provided support as her children showed cattle, sheep, and swine at major livestock shows throughout the Southwest. The Jacksons always traveled as a family to various activities, which included four straight trips for daughter Katy to the state track meet in Austin, and trips to Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio among other places for livestock shows. At school, Marilyn had a passion for Language Arts and seventh grade Texas History. If you graduated from Ranger High School between 1982 & 2002, you experienced Mrs. Jackson?s expositions on Shakespeare, Poe, and Thoreau. Marilyn could quote line and verse, but wanted her students to experience literature with a unique approach for each individual child. She had her students stand up and act out parts of plays & short stories long before the research said active learning would yield better results. She was a very even tempered teacher who made learning fun and exciting. She truly found her life's calling as a teacher. She suffered a stroke in 2007 while caring for Jerry and would have to leave her beloved farmhouse in Ranger. But even while she had to live closer to her children in Dallas, she always considered Ranger her hometown and would talk about Ranger's wonderful people and her students until her last days. Marilyn was preceded in death by her mother and father W.R. & Clara Coleman, her husband Jerry, her mother and father-in-law William Rice and Maime Elise Jackson, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law Dr. Bill and Shirley Jackson, and her brother Richard. Marilyn is survived by her brother Ted Coleman of Amarillo, her sister-in-law Judy Coleman of Watauga, her children Vicki Olivier of Carrollton, Jerry Bradley Jackson of Stafford, Katy Jackson Jensen (RHS-1983) of Commerce, Jeffrey Jackson (RHS-1989) of Plano, ten grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. Marilyn loved her grandchildren and her family deeply and she will be dearly missed by them.