Marilyn Jean Jackson

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Marilyn Jean Jackson, 91, of Greencastle, passed away peacefully on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022.

Born July 25, 1930 in Greencastle, she was the daughter of Gilbert and Crystal Tate Twomey and a lifelong resident of Greencastle.

She graduated from Greencastle High School, the Indianapolis Approved Beauty College and owned and operated her own beauty shop.

Marilyn worked alongside her husband, with his brothers and their spouses, at Jackson Brothers Real Estate, the Campus Double, Triple J and Double Decker restaurant, all local businesses that they co-owned together.

She was affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, Lady Elks Auxiliary, Women of the Moose, Ladies Auxiliary American Legion, Putnam County Public Library, Putnam County Hospital Guild, Lakes Regional Library and Lee Memorial Hospital Guild.

During her life, she was elected to the Greencastle City Council, served as board member for the Putnam County Senior Center, served as co-treasurer charter member of the GHS Alumni Association, served as a Girl Scout Troop Leader and co-managed Red Cross summer swimming lessons.

Marilyn, who was a two-time cancer survivor and lost her only sister to cancer, supported numerous cancer projects and worked several hospice projects later in life. She was an avid reader, an advocate for education and had a lifelong passion for and commitment to community service and volunteer work.

She enjoyed dancing throughout the years with Bob, her dance partner of 70 years, whether it was doing the twist at the Double Decker or teaching line dancing at the Senior Center. Although Greencastle always held a special place in her heart, she also loved their winter home in Fort Myers, Fla., where she and Bob would get their great tans on the beach, helped host many neighborhood community events, won bingo more often than not and played many a competitive game of Rummikub around the kitchen table. She loved her family above all else and was a loving wife, daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend to many.

She is survived by her husband Robert L. “Bob” Jackson, whom she married in May 1951; daughters Lynn (Richard Brooks) Jackson of Fort Myers and Lana Jackson of Fort Worth, Texas; granddaughters Courtney Brooks of Portsmouth, N.H., and Kiersten (Samuel) Strong of Fort Worth; sisters-in-law Barbara Jackson and Luella Jackson, both of Greencastle; and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Marlene Bitzer.

Bittles and Hurt Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements, and no funeral or memorial service is immediately planned. The family will notify loved ones in the future when a service is scheduled.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in memory of Marilyn to the Marlene Bitzer Memorial Scholarship Fund, to the Senior Center of Putnam County or the Humane Society of Putnam County.

It is the family’s request that your stories be shared at www.BittlesandHurt.com or emailed to jacksonfamilymemories30@gmail.com to keep her memory alive for her future generations.