March 21, 2025, 69, Sun City Center, FL —
Jacquelyn Michelle Jackson Smith passed away unexpectedly, but peacefully, on the morning of March 21st, 2025 at the age of 69 in her apartment located in Sun City Center, Florida.
She was born on February 3rd, 1956 in Mount Olive, N.C., daughter to the late James Edgar and Jean Carol Doiron Jackson
Jackie, as she liked to be called, was very outgoing and friendly to all. She loved spending time outdoors, whether it was working in her yard, enjoying the beach, walking a new trail, swimming, or just sitting and watching the birds. If the sun was out, then more than likely, she was too. On the days she wasn’t, she loved to bowl, sing karaoke, look around antique stores, and watch country music videos. She traveled to many beautiful places inside and outside of the United States, Thailand being her favorite.
Jackie was the baby of her family which included five sisters, Denise, Barbara, Lynette, Carol, and Deborah “Debbie”. Before graduation she met and married, Gene Autry Smith and went on to start her own family giving birth to three daughters. She pursued her medical interest by obtaining her EMT certification in 1986. After the death of her first husband, she went on to marry William Chester “Pete” Smith and had her last of four children, a baby boy.
Being a military wife and a mother of four, she decided that her energy was much more needed in the home and became a stay-at-home mom. Once all of her children entered school, she went on to further her education by obtaining her Medical Assistance License, graduating in 1993. From school, she went right to work helping sick children at the Naval Hospital in Mayport, Florida. She loved her work there, her work family, and all of the families of the children she helped heal.
In 2000 she decided to join Pete in Chinhae, Korea. Now in a new country, she would return to school to learn the Korean language, of which she was so very proud. After learning how to communicate with her new surroundings, she was then able to land a job running a coffee shop on base.
She is survived and deeply missed by her four children and their significant others, Jennifer Ann Price and Gary Paul Brown, Christy Michelle Smith and James Allen DeCommer, Jamie Lynn and Jason DeWayne Harper, and Robert Edward and Brittany Lynn Smith. She will be forever cherished and remembered by her twelve grandchildren, Kayla, Zackary, Harrison, Darren, Hannah, Jackson, Carter, Jameson, Jacey, Jayden, Elliot, and Alana Jean, their families, including three great-grandchildren, Emberlyne, Jonah, and Oliver. Her memory will forever live on through her sisters, Denise Keel of Pink Hill, NC, Lynette Mathis of Clinton, NC, Carol Whaley of Mount Olive, NC, Debbie Tyre and husband, Donny, of Valdosta, Ga.; nieces and nephews, cousins, friends, and all the many people she touched along the way.
Sister, Barbara Livingston, preceded her in death.
Visitation and celebration of life will be held on April 4th, 2025 at Tyndall Funeral Home starting with visitation from 10 am-11 am and service being 11 am-12 pm before heading to her final resting place at St Mary’s Of The Angels Catholic Church Cemetery, Flowers are welcome and will be appreciated.
