Anita Musselwhite Jackson, 74, of Tifton passed away Thursday, January 11, 2024, at Tift Regional Medical Center. A memorial service will be held for Mrs. Jackson at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, March 2, 2024, in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals. The family will receive friends on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at Bowen Donaldson Home for Funerals from 10:00 a.m. until the hour of the service.
Born on May 30, 1949, in Camilla, Georgia, Mrs. Jackson was the daughter of the late Mary Ellen Harris Thompson. In keeping with longstanding family tradition, Anita grew up in the Presbyterian church. She graduated from Mitchell County High School and briefly attended Albany Junior College. She was a top-notch student who excelled in French and Latin. She married Jackie Edward Jackson, Sr. in 1968 and raised their family of two boys and several puppies in Cobb County, Georgia. Mrs. Jackson was a full-time homemaker, a loving mother who always helped her sons with math homework and cheered for them from the stands at every little league baseball game. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson retired in 1998 and moved to Tifton, Georgia. It was here that she discovered her true calling: being a grandmother. Mrs. Jackson spent every minute adoring her three grandchildren and filling the many days they spent together with special moments.
Anita was an avid antique collector, and she especially enjoyed collecting cut glass and early twentieth century American pottery. Exploring the antique shops dotting the landscape of the South with her "Red Shoe Girls" filled many a day with friendship and adventure. Her annual trips to the mountains of Tennessee and the beaches of Amelia Island, St. Simons Island, and St. Augustine provided her with a source of joy. Being at the beach and enjoying some fresh crab cakes and fried shrimp with family and friends constituted a little slice of heaven for her. When not traveling, Mrs. Jackson kept her mind busy with brain teasers and the most difficult crosswords she could find. She also took delight in putting together jigsaw puzzles with family and friends. Over the years, Anita was also fond of reading fiction (especially mysteries), playing trivia, fishing, chess, and photography. Her retirement years were also marked by many days of rocking on the front porch at sunset with her loving and beloved husband.
Anita will be terribly missed by the family and friends she leaves behind.
Mrs. Jackson is survived by her husband of 55 years, Jackie Edward Jackson, Sr. of Tifton; two sons, Jackie Edward Jackson, Jr. of Walla Walla, Washington and Jared Blake Jackson of Acworth; one sister, Livia Taylor (James Watson) of Macon; three grandchildren, Emma Marie Jackson, Forrest Blake Jackson, and Evan Landon Jackson; a brother-in-law, Lawrence Adrian Collier, II; a nephew Lawrence Adrian Collier, III, niece Sadie Ellen Watson, and great-nephew Lawrence Adrian Collier IV.
She was preceded in death by her step-father (James S. Thompson), mother, and sister Cheryl Collier.
Flowers will be accepted; memorial gifts may be made to Saint Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital at www.stjude.org.